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ec. 143 



RECREATION IN 
SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS 

A SECTION OF THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY 

LEE F. HANMER 
CLARENCE ARTHUR PERRY 



RS 
•F- 



Department of Recreation 

Russell Sage Foundation 

130 East Twenty-second Street, New York City 



Price 25 cents 



11-14-25 



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SPRINGFIELD SURVEY 

1914 

Conducted by the Department of Surveys and Exhibits, 
Russell Sage Foundation, Shelby M. Harrison, Director, E. G. 
Routzahn, Associate Director. 

The Schools of Springfield, Illinois. — Leonard P. Ayres, 
Ph.D., Director, Division of Education, Russell Sage Founda- 
tion. 

Recreation in Springfield, Illinois. — Lee F. Hanmer, 
Director, and Clarence Arthur Perry, Associate Director, 
Department of Recreation, Russell Sage Foundation. 

The Charities of Springfield, Illinois. — Francis H. 
McLean, General Secretary, American Association of Societies 
for Organizing Charity. 

Industrial Conditions in Springfield, Illinois. — Louise 
C. Odencrantz, Committee on Women's Work, and Zenas L. 
Potter, Department of Surveys and Exhibits, Russell Sage 
Foundation. 

City AND County Administration in Springfield, Illinois. 
— D. O. Decker, Department of Surveys and Exhibits, Russell 
Sage Foundation. 

Public Health in Springfield, Illinois. — Franz Schnei- 
der, Jr., Sanitarian, Department of Surveys and Exhibits, 
Russell Sage Foundation. 

The Correctional System of Springfield, Illinois. — 
Zenas L. Potter, Department of Surveys and Exhibits, Russell 
Sage Foundation. 

Management of Mental Deficiency, Insanity and Alco- 
holism IN Springfield, Illinois. — ^Walter L. Treadway, 
M.D., Assistant Surgeon, U.«S.: Public Health Service for Na- 
tional Committee for Mental. hygiene. 

Housing in Springfield, Illinois. — ^John Ihlder, Field 
Secretary, National Housing Association. 



G^ 






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RECREATION IN 
SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS 



Copyright, 1914, by 
The Russell Sage Foundation 



PRESS OF WM. F. FELL CO. 
PHILADELPHIA 



FOREWORD 

This study of recreation conditions in Springfield, 
Illinois, was made by the Department of Recreation 
of the Russell Sage Foundation in co-operation with 
the Springfield Survey Committee. It is one sec- 
tion of a general social survey conducted by the De- 
partment of Surveys and Exhibits of the Founda- 
tion. The object has been to take into account the 
conditions under which the people live, the facilities 
for recreation available, both used and unused, the 
agencies at hand for providing recreation, and the 
recreational needs of the people; then to discover 
practical means of meeting these needs. It is hoped 
that the effect of the survey may be to arouse public 
consciousness with respect to the necessities, possi- 
bilities, and responsibilities that Springfield faces 
in helping its people, young and old, to make the 
best possible use of their play time. A plan of pro- 
cedure is suggested. 




9" 9B fli WKt 




Courtesy of A. C. Slmiil.liu^ d- Broi 



Plan of Development Suggested for the Enos School Grounds 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Foreword v 

List of Illustrations ix 

List of Tables : xi 

I. Springfield — Its General Characteristics i 

11. The Basis of Pubhc Concern in Recreation 5 

III. The Homes 23 

IV. The Schools 30 

V. The Parks 60 

VI. The Streets • 66 

VII. The Library 68 

VIII. The Museum 70 

IX. Semi-Public Institutions 73 

X. Commercial Amusements 80 

XI. Athletics, Festivals, Pageants, and Public Celebrations 89 

XII. A Recreation Program for the Future 97 

Appendix 105 

Index 127 



Vll 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Plan of Development Suggested for the Enos School Grounds. . . Frontispiece 

Map of Springfield Showing Distribution of Population 2 

Grit and Action 8 

At the Turn in the Race 9 

Play Gone Wrong 14 

Boy Scouts Overcoming a Forest Difficulty 18 

A Camp Fire Girls' Council 19 

Springfield has a Wealth of Home Playground Possibilities 23 

What Happens Without a Play Program 26 

Parochial School Boys at Play. St. Mary's School 27 

Organized Recess Play for the Girls. St. Mary's School 27 

A Home Yard Play House in Springfield. A Good Suggestion 28 

The Recreation Center vs. Street Loafing 31 

Companionship under Wholesome Auspices 32 

Louisville Neighborhood Celebrating Hallowe'en in the School House. ... 34 

A Boys' Club at a Milwaukee Social Center 35 

Good Social Center Space 39 

The Springfield High School 42 

Some of Springfield's Spacious School Yards 44-47 

Proposed Plan for the Palmer School Grounds (insert) 48-49 

Muddy Yards Hold the Children to the Walks at Play Time 49 

A Summer Playground — Not in Springfield 51 

One of the Amusements Confessed to by Springfield School Boys 52 

Inexpensive, but Popular 53 

Right Leadership Made Possible through Organized Play 54 

What One City Has Done for School Athletics. The High School and 

Stadium at Tacoma, Washington 56 

Another View of the Tacoma Stadium 57 

Training in Alertness through Dodge Ball 58 

Sunday Afternoon in Washington Park, Springfield 6 1 

The Children's Corner in Washington Park 61 

Early Spring in Lincoln Park, Springfield 63 

In Lincoln Park. Some Play Apparatus 63 

Play under Expert Leadership in a Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Park 64 

From the Porch of the Washington Park Field House 65 

A Muddy Ball Ground, but Better than None 67 

Making the Best of Existing Conditions 67 

An Exhibit in the Natural History Museum 71 

ix 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

The Chatterton and Its Surroundings 82 

Two Springfield Theater Tickets and a Bit of the Program 84 

Factory Park in Springfield 89 

Public Provision for Athletics and Play in East Orange, New Jersey 90 

An Occasion at the East Orange, New Jersey, Field 90 

The Remington Typewriter Company Provides an Athletic Field for Its 

Employes 92 

How Buffalo Celebrates May Day 93 

The Pageant of Cape Cod 94 

The Pageant of Darien, Connecticut 95 

Group Jumping 109 

Group Chinning no 

Group Running 1 10 

Basketball Throw 117 

All-up Relay 118 

Shuttle Relay 119 

Folk Dancing 1 19 



LIST OF TABLES 

TABLE PAGE 

1. Forms of recreation reported by i,io8 elementary school boys for Easter 

vacation, 19 14 24 

2. Forms of recreation reported by 1,167 elementary school girls for 

Easter vacation, 19 14 25 

3. Amusements reported by 857 high school students from Christmas, 

1913, to April 6, 1914, Springfield, Illinois 40 

4. Attendance of high school students at motion-picture shows for 813 

students in Springfield and for 1,400 students in four cities of Iowa 41 

5. Play space available on Springfield school grounds, 1914 48 

6. Areas of Springfield parks 60 

7. Ratio of park space to population in 1 1 American cities 60 



XI 



SPRINGFIELD— ITS GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS 

There are no hills in Springfield; the city's surface is for the 
most part as level as a floor. A couple of small streams appear in 
the outskirts but neither traverses the city, and with the excep- 
tion of the more plentiful distribution of large trees in its western 
half there is nothing in the city's geography of a nature to pro- 
duce districts of widely varying characteristics. 

The north-south diameter of Springfield is a little more than 
four miles and its east-west dimension about three miles. Within 
its somewhat jagged boundaries there is an area of over eight 
square miles. The streets run either north-south or east-west, 
the few exceptions being some of those which follow railway or 
trolley lines. In width the streets range from 40 to 80 feet and 
practically all blocks are bisected by alleys. 

Aside from the central part where the stores, offices, and public 
buildings are crowded together there are no large sections, except 
on the outskirts, wholly devoid of dwelling houses. The six 
important railway lines which enter the city have their stations 
and freight houses in separate districts, and the various factories 
are surrounded by residential districts. The apartment house 
has just begun to appear but tenements are not yet numerous. 
Outside of the downtown district most families enjoy a yard. 
True, nearly two-thirds of the population live east of the central 
north-south line (Third Street), but more than half of the city's 
area is also east of this line. Few house sites even in this more 
crowded half are smaller than 40 x 150 feet and most of them are 
larger. Congestion of population is not a factor in the recrea- 
tional life of Springfield. It is a city of homes. 

Over 80 per cent of its people are white and of native birth. 
The growing predominance of persons of native birth and parent- 
age is attested by the fact that the proportion of white persons 
I I 



THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY 



The Springfield Survey, 

Springfield, Illinois, 

1914 



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Distribution of Population, Springfield, Illinois, by Enumeration 

Districts, United States Census, 1910 

Each Spot Represents 20 Persons 



RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD 

of native parentage is increasing while conversely the ratio of 
those of foreign or mixed parentage is decreasing. In the decade 
1900-10 the proportion of Negroes in the total population de- 
creased from about 6.5 per cent to 5.7 per cent. Of the 7,000 
foreigners in the city in 19 10 over 2,000 came from the British 
Isles, a few more than that number from Germany, and some- 
what more than 1,000 from Russia. Nearly two-thirds of 
Springfield's immigrants are of the races of northern and western 
Europe. These people are sturdy and assimilable. 

Within four miles of the center of the city there are 17 bitumin- 
ous coal mines which give occupation to between two and three 
thousand of Springfield's male wage-earners. Within the city 
itself 170 or so manufacturing establishments, representing a 
wide variety of industries, give employment to about 3,000 
additional men workers. As is indicated by the recent report 
of the United States Census, the miners and the factory workers 
constitute nearly one-third of the male working population. 
Men whose bodies are fatigued by the day's toil crave passive 
enjoyments during their free time. If the work is also attended 
with danger, as is the case with all underground occupations, 
they tend to seek excitants for jaded nerves. Accordingly 
Springfield is well provided with motion-picture shows, saloons, 
vaudeville performances, baseball games, and the other con- 
tests which allow large assemblages of spectators. 

In a city whose houses are unusually favorable to family life, 
housekeeping is of course the predominant occupation of the 
women. There is, however, the usual number of ofifices, stores, 
schools, telephone exchanges, and laundries, where women work; 
also a shoe factory and a large watch factory that give employ- 
ment to women. Here, as elsewhere, the presence of a con- 
siderable female element in industry brings about certain public 
recreation problems which are peculiar to this social condition. 

Sangamon County, in the center of which Springfield is sit- 
uated, is a plain so level that its highest point is only 230 feet 
above its lowest point, and between these points lies the width of 
the county. Its fertile soil produces annual crops of corn, oats, 
wheat, hay, and so forth, worth some $7,500,000. Springfield, its 
only city, is the county's natural shipping and shopping center, 

3 



THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY 

and similar trade relations also exist between the city and sec- 
tions to the north, west, and south of the county's limits. 

Being the capital of Illinois, Springfield is the host every now 
and then of large bodies of people brought in by the state fair, 
conventions, the assembling of the militia, and the meetings of the 
legislature. To entertain these groups hostelries have grown up 
which are in excess of the needs of the city during the intervals 
between these various occasions and which therefore are not 
likely to be at any time overscrupulous regarding the character 
of their patronage. The regular recurrence too of multitudes 
of visitors with money to spend and free from home restraint, has 
stimulated an abnormal development of the passive amusement 
agencies and those which pander to the senses and grosser appe- 
tites. 



II 

THE BASIS OF PUBLIC CONCERN IN RECREATION 

The cities which up to now have gone furthest in municipal 
care for recreation have been mainly those in which the excessive 
delinquency of children in certain well defined districts has called 
public attention to the external causes of viciousness. In these 
sections it was found that the congestion of population had 
squeezed out the spaces and opportunities for a normal play life 
and steps were consequently taken to supply the deficiencies. 
The movement for playgrounds thus originated became finally 
a movement for all sorts of recreation facilities under public 
auspices. But in Springfield the conditions that hamper play 
are not conspicuously present and, as a consequence, its public 
conscience has not been greatly burdened with recreation matters. 

Nevertheless, in this city just as in other communities, whether 
or not they show the plague spots peculiar to bigness, there occurs 
each year an appalling wreckage of human careers — appalling 
both because of its size and its preventability. Here are a few 
instances clipped from the columns of the local press : 

"Crazed by drink" is the explanation given by J T at 

the city prison for his shooting of his wife at their home . . . 

yesterday evening. . . Mrs. T , leading two of her children, 

ran to a neighbor's house and collapsed on the back porch. . . . 

Charging that her husband never worked and followed her from 

place to place living on her earnings, E T today filed suit 

for divorce. . . She left him to support her three small sons. . . 

An unsuccessful attempt to commit suicide by gas was made by a 

woman giving her name as Mrs. R at a rooming house 

yesterday morning. . . The woman came to the hotel Frida\ 

night in company with a man, registering as Mr. and Mrs. R . 

Saturday the man did not return. 

B T , stabbed in the neck in the rear of the saloon, . . . 

was improving today at hospital. 

Coroner C R today investigated the birth and death of a 

daughter to F R yesterday. The girl is but fourteen years 

5 



THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY 

old and unmarried. . . W L is held . . . on a charge 

of bastardy but it is probable an indictment charging rape will be 
returned ... by the grand jury. . . 

Mrs. B . . . charged that Y- sold her husband liquor 

with the result that he became a drunkard, lost his position, became 
a physical wreck, and finally, injured in mind and body, committed 
suicide. 

Mrs. M M . . . who . . . jumped from a 

second story window in a nude condition was given i8o days in the 
county jail. . . Two daughters of the woman will be cared 
for by the Humane Officer until her husband arrives. . . The 
woman will also probably be released if she promises to return to her 
husband. 



A Terrible Total 

Such items as these appearing from day to day fail after a 
time to make any impression. They are accepted as things 
which have to be. The incidents reported in the newspapers, 
however, are usually only those that get into the courts and they 
therefore constitute but a small fraction of all the casualties to 
character which are going on about us. The discharge of a 
mechanic for drunkenness may result in no violence to another's 
person or property and yet it may mark the end of a useful career, 
the beginning of a life of loafing. An immoral episode, growing 
out of an acquaintanceship begun at a dance hall, may not im- 
mediately plunge a young woman into public shame and yet be 
just as truly the principal cause of an irreparable breakdown in 
her subsequent family life. The boyish pilfering from a freight 
car may not result in quick arrest and yet be in reality the com- 
mencement of a career of thievery. 

The tiny drip, drip, drip of a faucet attracts little attention as 
you give it a casual glance, but collect the wastage for a week and 
the quantity of the loss will send you in haste for a plumber. 
And so it is with the number of the moral accidents which happen 
practically unnoticed in a year's time in a city like Springfield. 
If all the sons, daughters, husbands, and wives who in a single 
twelve months' period had suffered a serious disaster to character, 
either as victim or aggressor, could be gathered into one room and 
counted, then the citizens of Springfield would have no difficulty 
in realizing the enormousness of this portentous total. 



recreation in springfield 

The Effect of Environment 

Who is to blame for these accidents? Men and women are 
free moral agents, are they not? These are pertinent questions 
and they can best be answered by reference to some concrete 
cases. In most of the incidents cited above drunkenness played 
a part. Let us study one very common set of circumstances 
under which intemperate habits may be contracted. 

Billiards is an extraordinarily attractive game. Scientific, 
unusually free from the factor of chance, it offers the player un 
limited opportunities for the improvement of his ability to judge 
spaces, coordinate the muscles, and exercise persistence of en- 
deavor. The green felt, the shining balls, and the straight hand- 
liking cue all please the senses. Being played indoors, by day 
or artificial light, the recreation afforded by billiards and pool 
is at all times independent of the weather, and it is an especial 
boon to the worker during the long winter evenings when out- 
side sports are not so regularly available. Furthermore, these 
are eminently sociable games drawing together persons of similar 
ages and tastes and allowing all the delights of jest and witticism 
to animate the spirits while the play is going on. 

But in Springfield, just as is the case in most other cities, the 
opportunity to play billiards is almost everywhere linked with 
powerful temptations to use alcoholic beverages. Of the 60 
holders of billiard and pool licenses 36 also hold licenses enabling 
them to have saloons on the same premises. The young men 
who frequent these pool rooms cannot escape the odors from the 
bar room, the contagion of custom, or the compulsion of a hospi- 
tality that is none the less powerful because it takes the form of 
alcoholic refreshment. 

What are the causal factors in the cases of the young men who, 
first entering these pool and billiard rooms solely for the purpose 
of play, gradually form habits which lead them finally into hope- 
less inebriety? Obviously there is in every case, (i) a sad failure 
of will-power, supposing them all to be educated in the deleterious 
effects of alcohol, and (2) the influence of the environment. 
To inform and strengthen the wills of young people, Spring- 
field like most other communities nowadays is working ener- 

7 



THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY 

getically through home, school, and church. These traditional 
instrumentalities which influence individual character — the 
parents' counsel, the class-room instruction, the preaching from 
the pulpit — will always be necessary to human development, 
and Society must not only cherish them and keep them keen and 
efi^ective but increase their power in every possible way. And 
one such way is presented in a well-balanced scheme of public 
recreation. 

The agencies just mentioned work almost wholly by precept 
and example. Teachers and preachers urge boys and girls to 
imitate certain patterns of conduct but they give them few op- 




Publi 



:.ols Athletic L 



l\e\v York Cit\' 

Grit and Action 



portunities for developing the will-power required to hold im- 
petuous desires in check and keep their restless feet upon the 
line laid down. It takes grit to subordinate strong impulses and 
grit can be acquired only through action. 

Developing the ability to meet high standards, both moral and 
physical, in the face of all sorts of opposition, is one of the func- 
tions of modern athletics. Few fields of action in times of peace 
afford such relentless trials of a youth's soul as does the field of 
sport. For example, a race is being run. The supremacy of 
your school and the approbation of your mates depend upon 

8 - 



RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD 

your winning. You are rounding a corner when your most 
dangerous competitor gradually comes up from behind. You 
grit your teeth and open the throttle wider. Lungs can do 
no more and hold out for the final dash. But the other fellow 
still comes on. The crowd and the judge's stand are far away. 
A seemingly unintentional backward shove of the elbow into his 
stomach or a careless swing to the side with your leg and you win ! 
Shall you do it? If through the influence of sound coaching a boy 
can be trained to the point where he will habitually resist such 
opportunities he has achieved a something which no learning 






.mm.'-ffmm 



Public Schools Athletic League, New York City 

At the Turn in the Race 
"The other fellow still comes on" 



can outweigh and upon which the highest degree can confer no 
further distinction. 

Likewise the lad who can force himself out upon the athletic 
field day after day while his mates are luxuriously idling, who can 
stick to the training regimen despite the temptations of dainty 
food and sociable drink, and who can drive his muscles to their 
utmost — such a youth has gained a self control, a character bul- 
wark, that will support him in all the stresses of life. What the 
properly administered gymnasium, playground, recreation center, 

9 



THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY 

or athletic field constantly furnishes are similar opportunities 
for exercising the will under conditions that develop power and 
control while at the same time guarding against overstrain and 
breakdown. 

But, returning to the case of the billiard-room habitue, the 
pulling power of the saloon is also a factor in his downfall. So 
that after society has done everything possible to strengthen 
moral stamina only half its task is done. It still has obHgations 
concerning the surroundings in which human beings work and 
play. Let us illustrate. 

"Safety First," a Municipal Obligation 
No machine is more visibly perilous, perhaps, than the revolv- 
ing saw. Yet year after year workmen who well know its terrible 
possibilities have suffered from its merciless lacerations. And 
until recently their employers have been able, in most of these 
cases, to escape any financial penalty for their injuries by merely 
alleging "contributory negligence" on the part of the workman. 
The very obviousness of the danger made it easier to place all 
the blame upon the careless operator. But now a, different 
practice is being increasingly followed in industrial establish- 
ments. All saws, cog wheels, and other machines whose working 
parts are dangerous are being covered and barriers are being 
placed around every hazardous locality. "Safety first," even 
though safety devices involve further outlay, is now the motto 
in every up-to-date factory. If corporations find it profitable 
to protect their employes from such dangers as the naked saw, 
how much clearer is the obligation resting upon Society to safe- 
guard its members from the more masked and less immediate 
perils lurking in the surroundings of otherwise wholesome amuse- 
ments. 

Intemperance Not the Only Evil 
The temptation to intemperance is not the only evil in the sur- 
roundings of the average commercially-managed billiard room. 
Often gambling operations hover in the proximity and sometimes 
the brothel is not far away. Moral hazards such as these menace 
each year in Springfield thousands of young men who are pursuing 

10 



RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD 

the pleasures of a game which in itself is as beneficial as it is 
enjoyable. 

Many parents already realize these dangers but as individuals 
they feel helpless. One Springfield father said, "I am much 
concerned about the influences that my sons are subjected to at 

's" (a popular pool and biUiard parlor). "I do not want 

to seem to them to be narrow and unduly strict, and they do en- 
joy the game and the friends they meet there. But there is the 
bar right at hand and the temptation of the social drink, be- 
sides the usual bar-room jest and the vicious stories with their 
covert challenges to questionable adventures. I wish there was 
some other place for them that was attractive and at the same 
time safe, but there does not seem to be any." 

There are also public dance halls in Springfield where pass-out 
checks are given to the patrons which enable them to visit neigh- 
boring saloons during the progress of the evening's program as 
often as they desire. The young women in attendance may not 
only dance with partners who have been imbibing but, since 
introductions are not customarily required, they may at any time 
receive invitations from persons regarding whose irresponsible 
character and vicious habits they may be absolutely ignorant. 
To thousands of Springfield's young people dancing is a perfectly 
normal mode of social life, and the only feasible opportunity they 
have for enjoying it is now surrounded by moral pitfalls of the 
most dangerous and insidious character. The dissoluteness of 

the Mrs. R , or of the Mrs. M , mentioned in the 

quoted newspaper paragraphs, may not have originated, even 
remotely, in any of the dance halls, but that in some of the young 
people now flocking to them the fuses of licentiousness are being 
lighted by their incendiary influences cannot be doubted, and 
when later on the inevitable explosions take place the citizens of 
Springfield will not be able to avoid a share of the responsibility. 

Municipal Amusements 
The only way whereby a municipality can escape blame for 
such catastrophes is to offer adequate opportunities for the pur- 
suit of proper pleasures in surroundings which are free from con- 
taminating influences. Many cities have already prescribed for 

II 



THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY 

themselves such a task. Milwaukee, for example, has placed 25 
of the finest type of pool and billiard tables in its public school 
buildings. Social dancing for young and old is taking place in 
over 200 school houses scattered throughout the country. It 
might at first seem that there were insurmountable material 
obstacles but experience teaches that there are, as a matter of 
fact, few school edifices in which it is impossible to equip several 
rooms, either in the basement or above, suitably for social 
and recreational uses. With modern movable furniture, ample 
lighting, attractive furnishings, gates to shut off unused floors or 
corridors, additional janitor service, and intelligent directors, 
any school board that has the mind to can successfully utilize the 
expensive but little-used property under its charge for the safe- 
guarding of a portion at least of the free-time activities of its 
people, young and old. 

Someone may say, '* If billiard playing and social dancing con- 
tribute to the downfall of young people, why afford opportunities 
for them in public school houses ? Why permit them to exist at all ?" 

Those who have given careful thought to these matters are not 
at all convinced that they should be banished, even if it were 
possible to do so. The feeling is rather that it is wrong and un- 
fair to the young people to allow so many of the intrinsically fine 
enjoyments of life to be associated with evil. Why not provide 
them so abundantly in irreproachable settings that they will 
automatically lose all their usefulness to the selfish and malign 
agencies now employing them as mere enticements? 

A Dangerous Defect in City Life 
The corrupt amusement resort, however, is only one of many 
environmental sources of evil found in the uncongested city. 
Back yards may be ever so ample, the parks easily accessible and 
equipped for play, and the woods not far off, and yet the city's 
scheme of life be utterly devoid of one of the main necessities of 
a healthy boy's existence. What happens when this need is not 
satisfied is shown in the following excerpts, also taken from 
Springfield newspapers in the past few months: 

Three boys at the county jail face a sentence. . . O J 

. . . is 13 years old, L A , 1 1 years old and P A , 

12 



RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD 

10 years. . . Friday evening the lads broke into the home of 

and stole a revolver, neckties, and other articles. Saturday 

morning they broke into the home and made way with several 

razors and a child's savings bank. 

They next went to the school house and after breaking up 

part of the furniture stole what small articles they wanted and set 

fire to the building. . . Outside . . . the three met , 

aged 10 years, and while the two A boys held her, the J boy 

attempted an assault, it is alleged. The child screamed that her 
mother was coming and the lads ran away. They were arrested 
. . . and at the jail . . . made a confession. 

What is the explanation? Are these just common thieves, 
bent on getting loot for their own selfish enjoyment? If so, why 
did they stop to break up furniture and then leave behind them 
such a lurid advertisement as a burning building? Why did they 
linger within the range of an imminent conflagration to attempt 
a personal assault? Larceny, burglary, arson, rape, all in one 
wild, resounding raid, — were such blustering bravos ever before 
encountered outside the pages of Scott, Dumas, or "The Red 
Terror of Roaring Gulch"? 

The report of the court proceedings in the next day's paper 
throws a still more penetrating light upon the home care, educa- 
tion, and psychology of these knickerbockered bandits. 

The lads plead guilty to the charges. . . Parents and friends 

seemingly deserted them as none were present. . . L A 

has previously served a sixteen months' sentence at for 

attempting to wreck a train. He is eleven years old. 

Wreck a train ! What under the heavens could an eleven-year- 
old child do with a stalled train ! Did he plan to go through it and 
invite the passengers — at the risk of having the daylight let 
through them — to pour their valuables into his pockets? Was 
the heart under his little shirt so thirsty for human blood that 
only a railroad catastrophe could satisfy it? Or was he blindly 
imitating the fascinating exploits of a ten-cent, paper-covered 
brand of hero who, in the recesses of some livery stable or lumber 
yard, had captured his hungry imagination? 

Bungling in the Matter of the Boy 
What did Society do to the lad who responded so wholeheart- 
edly to the inspiration of the dime novel? Confined him for one 

13 




14 



RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD 

and one-third years with other boys of similar experience ! When 
we wish to diffuse knowledge we bring people together in con- 
ferences, congresses, and institutes so that the new facts can pass 
readily from one to another. Likewise in the intimate associa- 
tions of a reformatory the tricks brought in by each inmate 
gradually become the property of all the others. It is not strange 

then that after such a rich opportunity for learning, L 

A , in company with his brother and their chum, who for 

aught we know may have enjoyed similar educational privileges, 
should have been able to show so much versatility and proficiency 
in deeds of crime, and should have so promptly given evidence of 
the competency of his training. 

When these boys were brought before the juvenile court by a 
strong-armed officer of the law, no effort having been made pre- 
viously by the judge or probation officer to discover the real 
causes of their wrong-doing or the motives behind it, there was 
not one single kinsman, teacher, or friend at hand to raise a voice 
in their behalf or to show them a sign of human sympathy ! With 
this circumstance before you, reflect upon the kind of home 
life in which these lads must have grown up ! And guess how 
much sympathy and understanding usually met their toddling 
efforts to adjust themselves to life's complexities — a task that 
is sufficiently baffling even under the most favorable circum- 
stances. 

A Vital Need Springfield has not Met 
What need do such boys have that the dime novel meets and 
the city does not? Perhaps the qualities that find expression in 
the exploits described in these ten-cent thrillers will furnish the 
cue. Or take the deeds they suggest to their readers, the criminal 
deeds of the three boys cited above — what personal attributes do 
they display? Obviously the first quality is physical courage; 
next an ingenious matching of wits ; an eager following of a course 
of action in which surprises were probable if not certain; and 
finally the imitation of adult activities and the assumption of a 
freedom of initiative that is supposed to come with adulthood. 
These are the qualities of the huntsman, the trapper, the explorer, 
and the pioneer, all reinforced and covered by the irrepressible 

15 



THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY 

urge to hasten the process of growing up by anticipating the acts 
of the grownups. A boy without these quahties would be as 
backward as a race whose early members had shown no disposi- 
tion to rove, extend their hunting territory, or settle new lands. 
The satisfaction of these Impulses and Instincts, Implanted In his 
nature by the exigencies of primeval race-life, Is as requisite to 
the wellrounded development of his personality as exercise is to 
the growth of his muscles. 

But what Is there in the ordinary home and school life that 
calls for daring? What proper occasion Is there for the display of 
cunning and stratagem? What opportunity for matching human 
artifice against the forces of nature? What adventure can pos- 
sibly happen In the daily round of fetching coal and water and 
carrying books to school? Is it at all remarkable that some of the 
bolder and more enterprising of these youthful spirits should now 
and then revolt at the tameness of city civilization and war upon 
the Society which denies them the opportunities their natures 
crave? Is it not still easier of comprehension when one considers 
that In the outbreaks themselves the boys find a most satisfying 
outlet for these repressed Instincts? 

The evidence of a widespread fondness among boys for the 
incidents of primitive life is not confined to their addiction to 
dime novels or enthusiasm for Wild West shows, whether fur- 
nished by Buffalo Bill or the "movie " man. Their free everyday 
acts disclose persistent, though to be sure fumbling, efforts to find 
these things in their own modern habitats. During the course of 
this survey some i,ioo boys, ranging mainly from nine to fifteen 
years of age, wrote school essays upon "All the things I did last 
week," the week in question being one of vacation, beginning 
March 30. These little diaries afford most significant glimpses 
Into the facts of their daily lives. Here are some of the things 
they did, — those who were not obliged to go to work, to spade, to 
cut wood, to clean up the yard, or to do the hundred other tasks 
belonging to the house-cleaning period : made tents, shacks, log 
huts, or tree houses; camped out all night; cooked over outdoor 
fire; made and sailed rafts; played cowboys and Indians, civil 
war and " Robinson Crusoe " ; imitated the field telephone men; 
and played "Boy Scouts. " Boys to the number of 134 reported 

16 



RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD 

activities such as these. How many more wanted to do similar 
things but were prevented can only be conjectured. 

The sad facts are that the parents who have the sympathetic 
understanding of this sort of boyish needs, and the necessary will, 
intelligence, and means to meet them, are still in a decided 
minority. How many mothers are there who can complacently 
regard their ten-year-old's aspiration to be a Rob Roy or some 
other kind of a bandit instead of a gentleman? But because 
parents do not understand, cannot buy woodsman's outfits, and 
will not permit excursions into the neighboring wilds for any 
length of time — these facts do not relieve the boy from the drive 
©f his instincts. Sometimes they get the better of his slowly 
forming, still plastic, notions of property rights, and then we read 
such items as this one, also from a Springfield newspaper: 

and C E , two youths, were arrested this 



morning charged with the theft of a tent and several robes from the 
M T company. 



How TO Meet It 
Fortunately for the future of American boyhood an organiza- 
tion has been formed whose activities afford to an unhoped-for de- 
gree a full, as well as wholesome, outlet for these early instincts. 
In the hike, the woodcraft, wig-wagging and wireless telegraphy, 
first care of wounded, and the many other ways of matching 
wits against nature involved in frontier life, the Boy Scout finds 
the kind of expression his primitive soul craves. The code of 
courtesy changes him from a brigand into a knight-errant with- 
out loss of zest. While the sanitary campaigns, street duty on 
parade, and other civic exercises all combine to prepare him 
for responsible, co-operative citizenship, at the same time they 
satisfy his impetuous desire to do the kinds of things adults do. 
Because scout patrols must recruit their members from more 
than one family only a body outside the family can organize 
them. Since scout activities range far from school house or yard 
the school board cannot well be responsible for them. But while 
the scout organization must needs be an independent administra- 
tive entity its work can be greatly furthered by the co-operation 
of the home, the school, and all citizens who are interested in 
2 17 




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tfi 



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fe O 



19 



THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY 

human welfare. No city now without a Boy Scout Council can 
claim that it is giving its boys a square deal. 

The importance of the similar role played in the girl's life by 
the Camp Fire Girls' organization should also here be presented. 
The home sex remained for so long submissive, quiet, and un- 
obtrusive that its own peculiar needs were not discovered and 
brought into the light. People forgot that during the long ages 
while the man roamed the hills in search of game the woman kept 
the fire burning in the hut and that her muscles and nervous 
system still respond emotionally to those primeval activities just 
as his do. They did not appreciate the necessity of having, in 
the midst of our changing home life, rites and ceremonies which 
would somehow preserve the romance and satisfaction of woman's 
age-long activities, and transplant them, not too precipitously, to 
the work of her new and larger place in the community scheme. 
There were, how^ever, those who felt these needs and who had 
the skill to invent an institution to meet them, and the product 
of their ingenuity and patience is taking its place alongside of 
the kindergarten, the school, and the home. 

Morality Purchasable 
On the bulletins of the New York City health department 
there appears this slogan, "Public health is purchasable. Within 
natural limitations a community can determine its own death 
rate." For the recreation propaganda this motto may well be 
paraphrased: "Private morality is improvable by public mea- 
sures. Righteousness can be raised by taxation. " This a com- 
munity can do by taking out of the environment of its people 
conditions that corrupt them and by putting into it the facilities 
required for the normal satisfaction of wholesome appetites and 
desires. 

Recreation and Self-Realization 
There is a still more constructive aspect to this subject. Rec- 
reation is so often accomplished through play that the two are 
commonly used as interchangeable terms. Broadly defined, 
play is doing the thing you very much want to do. True, work- 
ing at one's hobby may not always result in the upbuilding of 

20 



RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD 

bodily strength but under normal conditions it does have a 
vitalizing effect. Just as the repression of some strong impulse 
toward self-realization is debilitating, so its satisfaction is tonic. 

In every community there are individuals who possess latent 
abilities of a special order which through lack of opportunity they 
are prevented from exercising. There are young men with 
talents for drawing, for invention, for mimicry, for organization, 
who need only the privileges of a studio, a laboratory, a stage 
society, or a civic club to achieve distinction for themselves and 
their locality. There are girls with undiscovered voices, hidden 
social abilities, leanings toward letters, or a special taste for 
interior decoration which will be revealed to themselves and to 
their friends by the stimulus of a chorus, the management of a 
reception, a dramatic competition, or the dressing of a stage for 
amateur theatricals. Indeed there are few individuals without 
some special qualification whose employment means personal 
success, whose denial spells lifelong failure. Since exercising 
special abilities is ordinarily play for their possessor it frequently 
happens that enabling an adult to play is enabling him to keep 
on growing. 

The extension of such cultural opportunities to the public in 
general constitutes one of the most important phases of the rec- 
reation movement. Modern school buildings — and to a lesser 
degree, park field houses — contain meeting rooms, auditoriums, 
stages, pianos, shops, laboratories, drawing rooms, and gymna- 
siums wherein a wide range of cultural activities can be carried 
on. School houses can be made available for all the purposes 
mentioned above by employing special staffs to come on after 
the academic force has retired for the day. To establish social 
centers means to inaugurate a line of municipal action that tends 
not only to remove the waste of crime but to give that enrichment 
to community life which comes only through the complete self- 
realization of its individual members. Such an environment 
smiles upon genius. 

Community Art and Recreation 
Recreation as a factor in the art life of a community is but 
another phase of the constructive side of this subject. Passive 

21 



THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY 

amusements largely depend upon the performances of artists of 
one kind or another. Those who give pleasure by the skilful 
manipulation of the voice, musical instruments, the crayon, or 
the brush are themselves stimulated and their number increased 
by any measures which augment the number of occasions when 
their services are required. Start a large chorus and you increase 
the number who seek vocal instruction. Establish a series of 
concerts and new performers are attracted to town. Facilitate 
the rehearsals of a struggling amateur orchestra and you increase 
the musical assets of the community. Similar efforts with the 
other arts will have like results. 

Proof of the close relationship between public recreation and 
community art is already remarkably abundant. Through play- 
ground work, folk and esthetic dancing have been given a per- 
manent place in American life, while the annual play festival has 
developed an increasing demand for fantastic, picturesque, and 
historical representations in parades and outdoor scenes. In 
several cities beautiful, immense, epoch-marking pageants have 
been presented, which grew obviously out of the advanced forms 
of play life that had been promoted by the municipality. In a 
less conspicuous but more widely extended way a vast amount of 
stimulation to musicians, dramatic clubs, artists and art groups 
of all sorts has been given by the opening of public school build- 
ings after class hours for diverting, cultural, and social occasions. 
Any city which wishes to lay the foundations for a broad com- 
munity art development will achieve the greatest progress by 
first establishing a generous, far-reaching system of public recre- 
ation. 



22 



Ill 

THE HOMES 

The first factor to consider in a study of the recreation needs of 
a community is the homes of the people. What the city should 
do in a public way depends primarily upon how the people live. 
If the population is congested and the streets are crowded with 
traffic the city is called upon to do much more than would be the 
case if each family lived in a separate house and had a lawn and 
garden of its own. The type of dwelling is also an important 
factor. Is there opportunity within the homes for social gather- 




Springfield has a Wealth of Home Playground Possibilities 



ings of congenial groups or must the young people meet their 
friends on the street or in public amusement places? 

Whatever the home conditions are, unless positively vicious, 
the effort should be to direct the recreational activities toward 
the home, as much as possible, rather than away from it. It is 
true that the social life of young people, and of adults also, must 
include association with those outside of their own family group. 
But the family life stands first and work and play within the home 
is the foundation upon which to build. Fortunate indeed is the 
city in which the homes of the people are such as to make this to 
any great extent possible. 

23 



THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY 

Springfield is a city of homes. Its population is not only well dis- 
tributed, but the number of people per acre is comparatively low. 
The people live for the most part in detached houses with yards, and 
in some cases, gardens. This means opportunity for home recrea- 
tions ranging all the way from children's games, both indoor and 
outdoor, to social functions in the home, lawn parties, tennis, cro- 
quet, and so forth. This is true for a majority of the people at least. 

The great need is resources — a knowledge of things to do. 
Here appears a serious gap in Springfield's recreation equipment. 
The essays written by 2,275 grammar school children of the fifth, 
sixth, seventh, and eighth grades on "All the Things I Did Last 
Week" (Easter vacation) give striking evidence of the dearth of 
proper resources for play. The long and varied list of these re- 
ported forms of play given below, when analyzed, presents an 
interesting picture of the play life of Springfield's boys and girls. 

In the 1,108 essays written by boys, the following 40 forms of 
recreation were the ones most reported. The percentage of the 
total number taking part in each activity is indicated. 



TABLE I. FORMS OF RECREATION REPORTED BY I,I08 ELEMEN- 
TARY SCHOOL BOYS FOR EASTER VACATION, I914 



Form of recreation 



Per cent of 
boys who 
reported 



Baseball 71.0 

Motion-picture shows. . . . 27.6 

Reading 23.1 

Kite flying 21.8 

Fishing 12.3 

Boy Scout activities 10.9 

Roller skating 9.2 

Bicycling 6.9 

Hide and seek 1 6.4 

Tag 4.9 

Cops and robbers 3.7 

Marbles 2.2 

Card playing 2.0 

Sheep and wolf 1.8 

Running races 1.7 

Football 1.6 

Throw the stick 1.2 

Run sheep run .9 

Hoop rolling .6 

Duck on rock .5 

Soldiers .5 



Form of recreation 



Break thou the window 

light 

Ditch 'em 

Hare and hound 

Playing show 

Playing on cars 

Corn-cob fight 

Mumble peg 

Fire department 

Rock battle 

Bull in the ring 

Poison stick 

Revival meeting 

Bean bag 

Blind man's bufi^ 

Leap frog 

Baby in the hole 

Tap on the graveyard . . . 

Prisoners' base 

What is it like and why? . 



Per cent of 
boys who 
reported 



24 



RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD 



The 1,167 girls who wrote essays reported most frequently the 
66 different forms of recreation listed below. In some cases the 
same game was mentioned under different names. 



TABLE 2. FORMS OF RECREATION REPORTED BY 1,167 ELEMEN- 
TARY SCHOOL GIRLS FOR EASTER VACATION, I914 



Form of recreation 



Per cent of 
girls who 
reported 



Motion-picture shows. . 

Jumping rope 

Roller skating 

Hide and seek 

Playing ball 

Tag 

Camp Fire activities . . . 

Playing with dolls 

Jacks 

Playing house 

Playing school ■ . . 

Ten step 

Dancing 

Swinging 

Sheep and wolf 

Checkers 

Hide the thimble 

Farmer in the dell 

Drop the handkerchief. 

Bicycling 

Playing show 

Kite flying 

Indians and cowboys . . 

Playing with toys 

In and out the window. 

Football 

Dressing up as ladies . . 

Playing store 

Johnny run a mile 

Blind man's buff 

Dare base 

Bean bag 

Cat and dog 




Old witch 

Water, water, wild flower 

I spy 

Dodge ball 

Basket ball 

Post office 

Black man 

Playing church 

Kick the stick 

Tin-tin 

Ring around a rosy 

Milk man 

Spin the platter 

Making mud pies 

Croquet 

Run sheep run 

Fox and geese 

Leap frog 

Pussy wants a corner .... 

Cops and robbers 

Horse 

Parlor baseball 

Telling stories 

Mulberry bush 

Chalk the corner 

Captain ball 

Sheep in the pen 

My lady's chamber 

London Bridge 

Potsy 

Clap in and clap out . . . . 

Hare and hound 

Button, button 



Per cent of 
girls who 
reported 



At first glance this array of play activities would seem to 
indicate that Springfield children have a fairly extensive play 
repertoire, but the percentages tell a far different story. The 
only activity that engages the attention of any considerable 

25 



THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY 

number of boys is baseball (71 per cent), while motion-picture 
shows top the list for the girls (48.6 per cent) . The only activities 
reported by over 20 per cent of the boys were baseball, motion- 
picture shows, reading, and kite flying, while the old standard 
games that American boys have been brought up on, such as 
prisoners' base, leap frog, blind man's buff, bull in the ring, hare 
and hound, and duck on the rock are reported as played by less 
than half of i per cent of the grammar school boys. Most of 
these standard games were mentioned by only one-tenth of i per 




What Happens Without a Play Program 
Scene in a Springfield school yard 



cent, or about one boy in 1,000. It isn't fair to the boys of 
Springfield to starve their play life in this way. 

In the case of the girls, motion-picture shows, jumping the 
rope, roller skating, and hide and seek are the four most popular 
means of recreation. The standard games that should bring girls 
together in safe, happy, co-operative play, such as I spy, London 
Bridge, fox and geese, button button, and blind man's buff, are 
at the bottom of the list, indicating that they are played by com- 
paratively few girls. 

While the survey was in progress, the children were observed 
during the play periods on the school grounds. With the excep- 

26 



RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD 



tion of baseball and tag they seemed in most cases to be sadly 
lacking in knowledge of what to do. The boys ran about mis- 




Parochial School Boys at Play 
St. Mary's School, Springfield 




Organized Recess Play for the Girls 
St. Mary's School, Springfield 

cellaneously tripping, pulling, and pummelling each other, and 
the girls amused themselves by standing about in small groups 

27 



THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY 

or playing an improvised tag game which consisted chiefly of 
chasing each other and screaming. 

A remedy for this would of course be the teaching of games to 
the children during the play period and of selecting these games 
in such a way that they might be used both on the school grounds 
and in the home yards. A few of the schools are already doing 
this in a limited way, but it should be extended to all the schools, 
and no child should be long in the public schools without knowing 
a good number of the standard playground games that have been 



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A Home Yard Play House in Springfield. A Good Suggestion 

tried out and which endure because they meet the play needs of 
boys and girls. 

In the Teachers' Training School a number of these games are 
taught to the pupil teachers, but this work needs to be followed up 
by someone whose business it shall be to see that this knowledge, 
and more of the same sort, shall be used in its proper place in the 
school program. There are supervisors of drawing, music, and 
so forth ; why should there not be a supervisor of physical train- 
ing and play who would, as a part of his regular work, provide 
for the teaching of all the games that children should know, and 
organize the recess and after-school play activities? * 

* Since the above was written a supervisor has been appointed. See page 59. 

28 



RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD 

The responsibility does not, however, rest solely with the 
schools. Parents must give careful thought to plans for making 
their homes attractive to the children by providing opportunities 
and facilities for play and social life. It may not be conducive 
to comfort and quiet to have the neighbors' children playing in 
your back yard and to have your house used for neighborhood 
parties of various sorts; but young people are bound to come 
together somewhere and if the heme or the school or the church 
does not afford this opportunity the public amusement resort 
will certainly have their patronage. Is there any better picture 
of wholesome social life than that of the home in which parents 
unite with their children in extending hospitality to their boy and 
girl friends either by means of afternoon play in the back yard 
or the more formal evening social occasions within the home? 
Infinitely more is accomplished than simply avoiding the pitfalls 
of the city streets; a positive cultural training is secured and 
social standards are set which are quite as vital to a child's de- 
velopment as anything that the schools can give. 



29 



IV 

THE SCHOOLS 

Buildings 

During the months of February, March, and April of 19 14, 
26 evening entertainments, lectures, or social gatherings were 
reported to have occurred in the public school houses of Spring- 
field. Only II out of its 20 school edifices, however, were used 
during this period for these purposes. Spread out among all the 
buildings this would make an average rate of about four occasions 
per building for the whole school year. Once every nine or ten 
wrecks, then, the school house here plays a part in the recreational 
life of its neighborhood. 

Howdoes Springfield, in this respect, compare with other cities? 
What amount of use for leisure time purposes constitutes the 
prevailing standard? The truth is no one can answer these ques- 
tions because school officials generally have not yet begun to 
record systematically the evening entertainments or meetings 
held in the edifices under their charge. Nearly one-tenth of 
New York City's public schools are used as recreation centers 
six evenings a week from October to April, while many others 
are used one or two nights a week for public lectures, night 
classes, and various other purposes. Chicago utilizes 24 schools 
two nights a week as social centers, while in others there are 
evening classes, political meetings, and miscellaneous activities. 
In over 200 American cities outcroppings of the social center idea 
are manifesting themselves in various sorts of evening activities, 
but in none of them is there any definite knowledge of the average 
amount of utilization per school which these activities are oc- 
casioning. In most of these cities a certain few schools of the 
system are being used more intensively than the others. These 
are locally known as social or recreation centers and their evening 

30 



RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD 

activities are maintained either by the board of education alone 
or in co-operation with a voluntary private group. 

Allentown, Pennsylvania, a city of the same size as Spring- 
field, has two school centers, open three nights a week through 
the winter, which are managed by the local playground associa- 
tion with some support also from the school board. Duluth, 
Minnesota; Superior, Wisconsin; Youngstown, Ohio; and the 
New Jersey cities of Bayonne, Elizabeth, Hoboken, and Passaic, 
places ranging from 40,000 to 80,000 in population, are other 
municipalities which have social centers in certain of their schools. 




New York City 

The Recreation Center vs. Street Loafing 



While in these cities the school centers are open from one to four 
evenings a week, their remaining buildings, excepting those with 
night classes, are used only for miscellaneous occasions and so it is 
not possible to say what the average utilization per building is. 
Springfield cannot claim a position among the leaders until it 
has at least some schools which are actually known as live social 
centers. 

An ideal plan would demand that a public school building con- 
tribute something at least once a week to each member of all the 
families which support it. To meet the several needs of such a 
variety of people with the least friction and the maximum of 

31 



THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY 

satisfaction it would probably be necessary to open some part of 
the building six nights a week. The administration of such an 
extensive program would require the services of a separate social 
center staff coming on duty, in part at least, immediately at the close 
of day classes and continuing (with an intermission for supper) 
until 10 or II o'clock in the evening. Alterations to the buildings 
and additional furnishings would also be demanded. 

While a plan of such scope has nowhere yet been realized and 




New York City 



Companionship under Wholesome Auspices 



is not immediately attainable anywhere, yet it is capable of 
gradual realization everywhere and every city ought to make a 
beginning at once in bringing it about. If there is any doubt 
about the authority of the Springfield board of education to 
maintain social center activities the Illinois school law should be 
revised so as to remove that obstacle. 

A first step that is now feasible in Springfield is that of opening 
every school house two nights a week. It can be achieved simply 

32 



RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD 

by following the policy the board of education has already wisely 
initiated; the policy, that is, of encouraging the formation of 
voluntary associations to work in co-operation with the schools. 
If skilfully directed these bodies could assume practically all of 
the burden of maintaining and conducting the social centers. 

Parents' and Neighborhood Organizations 
There could and should be a mothers' club or some other form 
of parent-teacher organization as well as a neighborhood improve- 
ment association connected with each of the elementary schools 
of the city. At present only ii or 12 schools have the help of 
such bodies and in many of these the work is done mainly by the 
principals and teachers. The methods by which these organiza- 
tions can be stimulated and still further developed are the fol- 
lowing : 

(a) Continue the policy of encouraging principals to become 
acquainted with their neighborhoods and to enlist the help of the 
leaders of the various groups within them. 

(b) Give systematic publicity to the doings of these organiza- 
tions and thus stir up a healthy rivalry among them. This might 
be accomplished in part by having reports read at each club meet- 
ing of the work being done by the groups connected with the 
other schools. 

(c) Bring about a federation of the various local organizations 
by having representatives from each group come together in a 
league having Its headquarters at the high school. 

(d) Give the neighborhood organizations more work to do. 
It might well be put up to the local groups to keep their school 
buildings open at least two nights a week. This could be ac- 
complished by efficient organization, working with volunteers, 
and developing self-supporting social center activities. In 
Louisville, Kentucky, five neighborhood groups are supporting 
school centers with no assistance from the school board but heat, 
light, and janitor service. In New York City, a similar body runs 
a center whose budget averages $100 a month. All members of 
the 19 clubs at this center pay dues ranging from 5 to 15 cents a 
week according to the opportunities offered. This money goes 
to the support of the work. Whenever a club gives an entertain- 

3 33 




34 




35 



THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY 

ment it turns 35 per cent of the net proceeds into the treasury. 
The balance of the budget is made up by private contributions. 

Some of the activities which can be easily fostered by these 
neighborhood organizations are the following: 

1. Popular choruses, string orchestras, brass bands, banjo 
clubs, and other amateur musical organizations. Ordinarily 
these can be developed simply by offering a room in which to 
practice, helping to find suitable leaders, and bringing together 
the local musicians. 

2. Basketball tournaments, folk dancing, and other indoor 
athletic activities. These should have the help and direction 
of the physical training department. 

3. Maintain reading and quiet games rooms. The necessary 
periodicals and games could be largely secured through donations. 

4. Promote young people's clubs of all sorts, dramatic, de- 
bating, literary, social, civic, and handicrafts. These will ordi- 
narily be glad to pay fees if self-government is encouraged. 

5. Hold motion-picture shows. Organize and chaperone 
groups for social dances. Both of these should be a source of 
income. 

Reading rooms in many of the schools can be extended by a 
further development of the policy of library co-operation which 
has already been initiated. There are at present branch libraries 
in eight of the public schools, while three other schools have 
libraries of their own of considerable size and importance. These 
collections might be supplemented by donated periodicals and 
made more accessible to the public by opening the rooms in which 
they are kept one or more nights a week, under volunteer or 
paid supervision. The Lawrence School has an especially fine 
collection and a well-appointed library room which were donated 
to the school. At the present time its use is so limited that the 
janitor has to dust the room only once a week. A plan should 
certainly be worked out whereby this neighborhood asset could 
be more generally utilized. 

In the school motion-picture shows the program should be 
interspersed with contributions from the choruses, orchestras, 
banjo clubs, dramatic societies, and clubs connected with the 

36 



RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD 

center. Oftentimes the upper grades will be able to contribute 
a number. In this way variety and interest will be added to the 
program and the occasion will be not only a stimulus to the 
amateurs but serve to develop neighborhood solidarity as well. 

The administration * of the social center activities which have 
just been enumerated should be directed and stimulated and 
supervised from the superintendent's office, working directly 
through the principals and, in certain matters, through the 
physical training department. 

As in the past, principals should be made to feel that the de- 
velopment of neighborhood organizations is a regular part of 
their function and they should then be helped by continual sug- 
gestions regarding methods and be sufficiently relieved from 
teaching duties to be able to carry them out. They should be 
given to understand that their aim should be to get the neighbor- 
hood increasingly to assume the load in the social center work, 
their function being to steer the activities rather than to do the 
actual work of carrying them on. 

Experience shows that it is a wise social center policy to offer 
cultural opportunities to the different races separately. Only 
in this way can an appeal to race pride be made. The Negro 
people should have a certain night for their glee clubs, and the 
Germans, the Lithuanians, and the Italians should have their 
special nights for their respective folk dances, national songs, and 
several exercises in their own tongues. If these privileges are 
offered in the spirit of affording the various groups the special 
privileges to which their particular abilities entitle them instead 
of from a motive of segregation, the successful carrying out of the 
plan will be assured. 

Social Center Equipment 

The board of education can do a great deal to facilitate the 

social center work by making a few inexpensive alterations in 

various rooms and adding suitable equipm^ent. Practically all 

the schools have basement rooms that are capable of use for games, 

reading, club meetings, or some other recreative purpose. By 

* For suggestions of sources of program material see Appendix, Topic A, 
p. 105. 

37 



THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY 

repainting some of the walls and doors, installing screened lights, 
putting screens on the windows, and equipping with plain wooden 
chairs and tables and closets for storing materials, these rooms 
could be very readily and cheaply prepared for a much greater 
service than they are now rendering. Many of them are accessi- 
ble by basement entrances and could be used without entering 
other portions of the building. Where this is not the case, or 
where it was desired to use spaces upstairs, such parts of the build- 
ing as were not needed could be shut off by wooden gates or bar- 
riers hung across a corridor or stairway. 

Several class rooms in each building could be made available 
for evening social purposes by taking out the fixed desks and 
seats and installing movable furniture. Such action is in several 
hundred cities now justified by purely pedagogical reasons, al- 
though the greater utility of rooms thus equipped is ample war- 
rant for the substitution. If, however, the expense cannot be 
met the rooms can still be made utilizable by putting their 
present furniture upon strips i inch thick by 4 inches wide run- 
ning parallel with the aisles, thus making it possible to move the 
seats in sections out into the hall with little trouble. Sections 
of four or five seats are easily handled. 

The generous corridors possessed by most of the Springfield 
schools are admirably adapted for small dances, group games, 
folk dancing, and many other indoor diversions. Their useful- 
ness would be still further enhanced in certain instances b}^ pro- 
tecting the lights and windows with screens and furnishing small 
movable platforms. 

Every school should be provided with an assembly room as 
soon as possible. In some cities this need has been temporarily 
met by removing the wall between two class rooms and substi- 
tuting a sliding or folding partition. Such a space equipped with 
movable furniture would serve many uses. In Milwaukee the 
auditoriums in the school centers have level wood floors, high 
platforms, and screened windows and lights, and are equipped 
with plain wooden chairs bound together in fours by a plank 
nailed beneath their bottoms, basketball standards and baskets, 
flame tungsten lights, motion-picture machines and booths, slid- 
ing curtains, and accessible dressing rooms. Besides the regular 

38 



RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD 



school purposes such rooms serve for indoor baseball and basket- 
ball, dancing, motion-picture and dramatic performances, and 
all sorts of evening occasions. Any city that wants to do so can 
provide these accommodations for the use of its citizens. 




Good Social Center Space 
New auditorium at the Palmer School, Springfield 



School Entertainments 
Literary and social gatherings and exhibitions arranged by the 
teachers might very well be integrated with the social center 
activities outlined above. The provision of these entertainments 
might be considered the teachers' share in this community work, 
but as neighborhood groups developed and became equipped for 
work the teachers might gradually turn over to them this re- 
sponsibility also. 

The High School 
On April 6, 1914, the students of the Springfield high school 
furnished detailed information regarding their outside amuse- 
ments. The total number of cards filled out by the boys was 
398, by the girls 459. 



39 



THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY 



TABLE 3. — AMUSEMENTS REPORTED BY 857 HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS 
FROM CHRISTMAS, I9I3, TO APRIL 6, I9I4, SPRINGFIELD, 

ILLINOIS 



Motion-picture shows 

Students who attended 

Total number of attendances 

Average number of times per week per individual 

attending 

Theaters 

Students who attended 

Attendances by students with member of family 
Attendances alone or with one not a member of 

family 

Average number of performances per individual . 
Students over half of whose attendances were 

with member of family 

Students over half of whose attendances were 

alone or with person not a member of family 
Dances 

Students who attended dances 

Attendances at private houses 

Attendances at hotel 

Attendances at academy or hall 

Home parties ^ 

Students in whose homes parties for young 

people were held 

Attendances at such parties 



Boys 



Girls 



355 
9,637 


409 
8.454 


1.9 


1-5 


341 
1,196 


386 
1,729 


3,876 
14.9 


2.584 
II. I 


74 


179 


250 


188 


161 


222 


412 
159 
515 


441 
144 

552 


154 
366 


240 
717 



a The figures relating to home parties are for the entire winter, 1913-14, 

A comparison of the amusement habits of Springfield high 
school students with those of the young people in several Iowa 
high schools is made possible by a study made by Professor 
Irving King, of the University of Iowa, and published in the 
March, 1914, number of The School Review. The Iowa ques- 
tionnaires numbered over 1,400 and were filled out in the high 
schools of Iowa City, Dubuque, Burlington, and Ottumwa. 
The figures on motion-picture attendance for the two sets of 
students are shown in Table 4. 

From these figures it will be seen that 41 per cent of the Spring- 
field boys attend the "movies" seven or more times a month, 
as opposed to 30 per cent in Iowa. Likewise 31 per cent of the 
Springfield girls show an equal frequency of attendance as com- 
pared with 21 per cent of those in Iowa. The table apparently 

40 



RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD 



demonstrates that the "movie" habit is stronger in Springfield 
than it is in Iowa. 



TABLE 4. ATTENDANCE OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS AT MOTION- 
PICTURE SHOWS FOR 813 STUDENTS IN SPRINGFIELD AND FOR 
1,400 STUDENTS IN FOUR CITIES OF lOWA^^ 





Boys 


Girls 


Attendances per month 


Springfield 


Four Iowa 
cities 


Springfield 


Four Iowa 
cities 




Num- 
ber 


Per 
cent 


Num- 
ber 


Per 

cent 


Num- 
ber 


Per 
cent 


Num- 
ber 


Per 
cent 


16 or more 

10 and less than 16 

7 and less than 10 

4 and less than 7 


39 
61 
56 
67 
92 

59 


10 
16 

15 

18 

25 
16 


53 
71 
57 
185 
153 
91 


9 
12 

9 
30 

25 
15 


27 
47 
59 
98 

132 
76 


6 
II 
13 
23 
30 
17 


43 
64 

63 
197 
265 
176 


5 

8 

8 

24 

33 

22 


I and less than 4. ... 


None or less than i 


Total . 


374 


100 


610 


100 


439 


100 


808 


100 







a Of 398 Springfield boys and 459 Springfield girls who filled out cards, 24 
boys and 20 girls did not report as to attendance at motion-picture shows. 
In the Iowa study the pupils did not report the actual number of attendances 
in a specified period, but estimated their current practice. 

The results in the above tables may be summarized as follows : 

(a) Practically all of the high school students attend the 
movies. 

(b) Of the boys, 86 per cent, and of the girls, 84 per cent, 
attend the theater. The boys who attend average about once a 
week and the girls go almost as frequently. 

(c) The majority of the visits to the theater are not made, in 
the case of either sex, with any other member of the family. 

(d) Social dancing is indulged in by 40 per cent of the boys and 
48 per cent of the girls. A large number of the dances they attend 
are held in hotels. 

(e) In 61 per cent of the boys' homes and in 48 per cent of the 
girls' homes parties for young people are not often held. 

Because the high school authorities have discouraged dancing 
in the high school the young people are holding many of the 

41 



THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY 

parties in places beyond the control of either teachers or parents. 
The newspapers tell of sorority dances held in the Leland Hotel, 
and the figures in Table 3 give further evidence of the fact that a 
large number of the students are resorting to hotels for their 
dancing opportunities. The parents of Springfield may well ask 
themselves whether it is a desirable thing for any large number of 
their young people to be forming the habit of dancing in places 
where open bars are not far distant and where the environment 
permits unusual freedom. In view of the general tendency to 




The Springfield High School 
A social center possibility 



hold social affairs outside of the home is it not incumbent upon 
the high school authorities to formulate and carry out a positive 
and constructive policy regarding the social and recreational 
life of the high school students? 

Finally, then, both for the sake of creating a more effective 
community support for this institution and to meet the now neg- 
lected athletic and social needs of the students a strong "wider 
use" policy should be carried out at the high school. If a new 
building is erected it should be equipped with movable furniture 

42 



RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD 

and suitable gymnasium facilities, and have a large, well-arranged 
auditorium on the main floor with a motion-picture booth. 
In the administration of this building a plan should be carried 
out which would soon make the high school the headquarters 
of the federated parent-teacher organizations. The auditorium 
should be available for meetings of large civic bodies and dis- 
cussions concerning municipal affairs. Here might also well be 
developed large choruses with a city-wide membership, high-class 
lecture courses, and amateur theatricals, and in time, a municipal 
or loan art gallery such as that at the Richmond, Indiana, High 
School or the Washington Irving High School in New York City. 
The finals of the indoor athletic tournaments between the ele- 
mentary or intermediate schools could take place in the high 
school gymnasium, and here also provision should be made for the 
social affairs, dances, and reunions of the high school societies. 



Yards 
Few cities have school yards that can compare in area with 
those of Springfield. The average size per school, exclusive of 
Pryor, is 101,519 square feet, or 2.33 acres. The gross area for 
the 19 schools is 1,928,868 square feet, or 44.3 acres. The total 
free space for these schools is 1,727,146 square feet, or 231 square 
feet per pupil for the entire city. The school with the largest 
amount of open space is Enos with 259,470 square feet, or 541 
square feet per pupil. The smallest is the Teachers' Training 
School with 23,199 square feet, or 100 square feet per pupil. 
This is ample to give space for a great variety of school-yard 
games and still allow certain areas to be set aside for flowers, 
shrubs, grass, and trees. Several cities have placed 30 square 
feet per child as the minimum requirement for school playgrounds. 
Submitted with this report is a plan of development suggested for 
each school yard. The plans for the Enos and Palmer schools 
which are illustrated in detail in the printed report, are typical 
of the others; each plan, however, has been worked out to con- 
form to local needs and conditions. The drawings for the Enos 
and Palmer plans were made for use In this report by A. B. Home, 
of A. G. Spalding and Brothers. 

43 




Edwards 




Bunn 





ti- 


\ 












1 




^ 


\ 1 


% 


\ 




■■ 




MM 






'M 




1 _- 


J 


mm 





lies 

Some of Springfield's Spacious School Yards 

44 



i^ - ^ j 


__,..,..— ^~«HB V Hj 


^yp^ 






Plfp^ 




biU'!r£ 


ll]jl.l] 


^!*^." 


•lai ajK 


fc#' 




■"*«yri 


1 


'*--- '. 




• .-^ <■ ■ . '•■ ->..-,; ^'Iv- :•■'-' ■■ ,■ ■■■■if"- 



Enos 




Stuart 




Harvard Park 

Some of Springfield's Spacious School Yards 

45 



Mi 


\J 




Vi., 


W^'kM>^ 


j^Hini 


i\ i 


ib" 


'WBR 


ri 



Feitshans 




Hay 




Du Bois 
Some of Springfield's Spacious School Yards 

46 




Ridgeley 




Lawrence 




McClernand 

Some of Springfield's Spacious School Yards 

47 



THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY 

The areas of the different school sites are as follows: 



TABLE 5. — PLAY SPACE AVAILABLE ON SPRINGFIELD SCHOOL 

GROUNDS, 1 9 14 



School 



Bunn 

Converse 

Dubois 

Douglas 

Edwards 

Enos 

Feitshans 

Harvard Park 

Hay 

High School 

lies 

Lawrence 

Lincoln 

Matheny 

McClernand 

Palmer 

Pryor (site temporary) 

Ridgely 

Stuart 

Teachers' Training. . . 



Pupils in 
average 
enroll- 
ment 



386 
340 
406 
392 
350 
480 
380 
134 
378 
981 
445 
525 
390 
254 
290 

353 

386 
516 
233 



Total 7,619 



Area in square feet of 



Entire site 



142,390 

105,350 

119,111 
54,950 
50,400 

270,000 
96,000 
76,788 
83,412 

150,250 
91,520 

115,200 
73,840 
65,772 
48,000 

102,400 

143,500 

108,800 

31,185 



1,928,868 



Free space 



133,754 
97,250 

110,755 
48,057 
36,800 

259,470 
86,346 
72,630 

75,177 
127,250 

83,445 

103,680 

61,200 

55,317 
41,850 

83,946 

126,900 

100,120 

23,199 



1,727,146 



Free space 
per pupil 



347 
286 

273 
123 
105 

541 
227 

542 
199 
130 
188 
197 

157 

218 
144 
238 

329 
194 
100 



227 



The surfacing in most of the school yards is very poor. Very 
few have a good sod covering and the play areas in practically 
all of them are in wretched condition during a large part of the 
year. The soil is such that in early spring and late fall the 
grounds can be little used on account of the mud, and in dry 
times the dust is extremely bad. These conditions make it 
difficult to keep the buildings clean, and render the grounds 
practically useless for play. The mud scraper is at present an 
indispensable piece of school-yard equipment in Springfield. 

The accompanying picture of the Converse School shows how 
the children are compelled, during the muddy seasons, to confine 
their recess play to the concrete or brick walks around the school 
building. 

48 




I of A. G. Spaidding b- Bros. 



Plan for Palmer School Grounds 



RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD 

In order to utilize adequately the splendid school-yard space 
that Springfield possesses, steps should be taken at once to de- 
velop a good sod on the areas so designated in the plans submitted, 
and to resurface certain spaces that are used intensively for play. 
The park board has made substantial progress in this matter on 
some of its play spaces and is now making further experiments, 
the results of which the board will be glad to make available to 
the school authorities. The co-operation of the general super- 
intendent and the chief engineer of the park board should be 
sought in this matter. The soil In Springfield presents peculiar 







n 


\^^%i r j 


uM 




^ - 


f' 




Bn r '^U 


^K^^ 


urn 


L fegm^ 




1 


h 


M 




y 




1 






1 


u 


1 • 


y^ 






^^«'^m 


..-,--* 
•'"-^^^^^M^ 


i 


1 


i 


m 


1 




.— ,. ^^^M 


■ 




'"^^Z A 


..... r/.-«M 


^mwmstt 






H 


■ 


IHHI 


■1 



Muddy Yards Hold the Children to the Walks at Play Time 
Converse School, Springfield 

problems in surfacing and must be worked out by local experi- 
menting. 

It was discovered with great surprise that these spacious school 
yards were used only during the recess periods, and that after 
school hours, on Saturdays, and during the long summer vacation 
the grounds for the most part lie idle while the children play in 
the streets or trespass upon private property frequently to the 
great annoyance of the owners. Some of the principals permit 
their boys to play on the school grounds for a time after school, 
while they themselves are still in the building, but this is only 
incidental. In two cases the janitors have taken pity on the boys 
and by arrangement with the principals made it possible for 
4 49 



THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY 

them to play on the grounds while they are there in the late 
afternoon. 

Provision should be made at each school for the free use of these 
grounds by placing a teacher or some competent person in charge 
after school hours and on Saturday afternoons throughout the 
entire school year. When storrns prevent outdoor activities, 
the play rooms in the basement could be used. Here are facili- 
ties that largely meet the recreation needs of the children of 
grammar school age, if only a small amount of supervision and 
leadership is provided. The expense for such service would be 
$1.50 or $2.00 per school for each afternoon and $3.00 for Satur- 
days. It would go a long way toward solving the problem of 
playgrounds for grammar school children in Springfield. Most 
of the parochial schools also have good sized grounds which should 
be used in the same way. 

The school budget of New York City this year contains an 
item of $76,000 to provide for the after-school use of yards and 
basement play rooms. Teachers who have knowledge of play 
leadership are assigned to this work. They are paid $2.50 for 
taking charge of the after-school playgrounds from 3 to 5.30 p. m. 
It is folly to go to the expense of purchasing and equipping special 
playgrounds when ample school yards with the shelter, drinking 
water, and toilet facilities of the school plant are already available. 
Also, schools are supposed to be placed where they are most 
accessible to the children ; which is also one of the first requisites 
in locating public playgrounds. 

Only nine of the 20 public schools in the city have any play- 
ground equipment, and this is in every case limited. Although 
with good play leadership it is possible to carry on play activities 
without extensive equipment, nevertheless it is highly desirable 
that a few good pieces, such as seesaws, swings, slides, giant 
strides, volley ball outfits, and goals for basketball and soc- 
cer football be provided. This equipment should be so con- 
structed that it may be taken down and stored or locked as it 
stands when the play leader is not on the grounds. It is neither 
practical nor even desirable to fence school grounds in such a 
way as to prevent trespassing. Control of the equipment, as 
suggested above, is all that is necessary. 

50 




51 




52 




53 




54 



RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD 

The school yards of Springfield, properly laid out, equipped, 
and supervised, would provide at comparatively small cost, 
neighborhood play centers such as few cities have been able to 
secure even at great expense, and which would be of incalculable 
value to the children of the city. An excellent opportunity 
presents itself for Springfield, as the capital city, to set a high 
standard in this direction for the other cities of the state. 

Athletics for the grammar school boys of the city are practically 
unorganized. Most of the schools have baseball teams and some 
have basketball and football teams, but they are mostly in the 
hands of the boys themselves. There is no formal athletic organ- 
ization and adults have not taken an active interest in these 
matters with the boys, except that some of the school principals 
keep in touch with their baseball teams and the physical director 
of the Young Men's Christian Association has taken charge of 
most of the interschool basketball, the games being played at 
the Young Men's Christian Association gymnasium. 

The high school has an athletic association which is managed 
by a governing board consisting of faculty members and students. 
Through the volunteer service of a few men on the faculty the 
athletic activities of the high school have been exceptionally 
well guided and high standards of sportsmanship and athletic 
courtesy prevail. The school labors under a great handicap in 
having no athletic field or gymnasium. The state fair ground 
in the extreme north of the city is used for outdoor games, and 
the state armory is secured, usually with difficulty, for indoor 
meets. The annual indoor games were held during the time of 
the recreation survey and opportunity was thus afforded for 
observing the administration of such affairs as well as the practice 
periods preliminary to the meet. The handling of the events 
and the spirit of the whole occasion were of a high order. 

Similar advantages ought to be provided for the grammar school 
boys. The need has been for a director of physical training and 
play in the Springfield schools who shall take the lead in organiz- 
ing a grammar school athletic league and be primarily responsible 
for it. He should also give such help as is needed in the high 
school athletics. At least 35 American cities now have school 
organizations of this kind in which class athletics and athletic 

55 




56 




57 




58 



RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD 

badge tests have been incorporated with a view to encouraging 
participation by all the pupils rather than by the select few. In 
this way the evils of specialization and excessive training are 
overcome.* 

Most of the grammar school grounds if properly developed 
would serve for athletic practice as well as other forms of play, 
but there should be at least one large school athletic field centrally 
located where the high school students could practice and where 
inter-school tournaments and meets of all kinds could be held. 
If this field could be located adjacent to the site for a new central 
high school, and the school building be so constructed as to pro- 
vide ample bathing, toilet, and dressing room facilities, great 
economy and convenience would result. One outfit of such 
equipment could well serve both the school and the athletic 
field, thus reducing by one-half this item of expense. 

There are practically no athletics for the girls either in the high 
or elementary schools, except that the school board has an ar- 
rangement with the Young Women's Christian Association for 
taking groups of high school girls at stated times for gymnastics 
and games. Athletic activities properly selected to meet their 
needs should be made possible for the girls as well as for the boys. 
This should be a part of the task assigned to the director of 
physical training and play.f 

At the time of the recreation survey these needs were brought 
to the attention of the superintendent of schools. The report of 
the school survey concurred on this point. It is gratifying to 
learn that within the last few weeks Dr. Earl H. Hand, a physical 
training, athletic, and playground expert, has been engaged for 
this work. 

* For details of this plan see Appendix, Topic B, p. 105. 

t See Appendix, Topic C, p. 112, for details concerning athletics for girls. 



59 



V 
THE PARKS 



Springfield has nine parks with a total area of 446.5 acres. 
The parks and their respective areas are: 

TABLE 6. AREAS OF SPRINGFIELD PARKS 



Park 


Area in acres 


Washington 


150.5 
120.0 


Lincoln 


92.0 
60.0 


Bergen 


lies 


10.5 
6.0 
4.0 

2-5 
I.O 


Forest 

East Side ... .... 


Enos 

Factory , 


Total 


446.5 



This provides one acre of public park for every 131 inhabitants. 
The rating of some of the other cities of the United States in this 
respect is as follows : 



TABLE 7.- 



-RATIO OF PARK SPACE TO POPULATION IN 1 1 AMERICAN 
CITIES 



City 


Inhabitants per acre of park space 




60 


Los Angeles 


81 


Minneapolis 


104 

244 

251 
298 
300 
310 
366 
404 
493 


Baltimore 


St Louis . 


San Francisco 


Philadelphia 

Boston 


Detroit 


Buffalo . . 


Chicago 





60 




Sunday Afternoon in Washington Park, Springfield 




The Children's Corner in Washington Park, Springfield 

6l 



THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY 

The parks of Springfield are under a district board of trustees 
of seven members, which is a body separate from and independent 
of the municipaUty. It secures its funds by direct taxation and 
is not responsible to the city for its expenditures. The budget 
for the fiscal year ending May 31, 19 13, was: 

Park maintenance $36,680.75 

Park improvements 21,587.68 

New sites 11,350.70 

Boulevards 19,481.67 

General 6,368.29 

Total $95,469.09 

The board's district includes considerable territory outside 
the city limits. Washington and Bunn Parks are only partly 
within the city proper. In fact, all the parks except four small 
ones. Forest, lies, Enos, and Factory, are on the extreme borders 
of the city, and are therefore not as accessible as might be desired. 
The transportation facilities are, however, good and the parks 
are much used. 

Few cities have more beautiful parks than Sprmgfield, and the 
park board has still higher standards toward which it is working. 
At the time of this survey the board was employing one of the 
ablest landscape architects in the country to aid in extensive 
plans of reconstruction and extension. 

A new park site has been secured in the eastern part of the city 
near the Matheny School and Is to be developed In part as a model 
playground for children. In the territory midway between the 
new park site mentioned above and Bunn Park on the south 
there is great need for another new park. A considerable Negro 
population in that section would be greatly helped by the estab- 
lishment of a public park in their part of the city. 

One park under the district board Is entirely outside the city 
limits. It is the new Bergen Park, located about one-half mile 
east of the city, and as yet has no street car service. 

Unusually fine field houses have been provided In Lincoln and 
Washington Parks which serve well not only for the accommoda- 
tion of picnic parties but for evening social occasions of various 
kinds. A caretaker with his family lives In each of these field 
houses and exercises careful supervision over the premises at all 

62 




Early Spring in Lincoln Park, Springfield 
The field house on the hill 




In Lincoln Park, Springfield 
Some play apparatus among the trees 



63 







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64 



RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD 

times. These field houses are open during the entire year. If 
operated on a practical basis they might well be made to yield a 
substantial income, thus cutting maintenance expenses. 

The extensive use of the parks by the people is the only way 
in which dividends may be realized on the capital invested in 
them. The park board is improving and extending its facilities. 
It is not in a position, however, to organize and promote their 
use by the public and to provide play leadership on its equipped 



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From the Porch of the Washington Park Field House 

play spaces and athletic fields. The board looks to the school 
authorities for co-operation in this work which is regarded by its 
members as primarily of an educational character. This situa- 
tion offers a splendid opportunity for team work between the 
park board and the school board ; one providing the space and 
equipment and the other the promotion, play leadership, and 
supervision of activities. A joint committee might well be 
formed to deal with all matters touching upon this co-operative 
relation. 



65 



VI 
THE STREETS 

Streets always have been and probably always will be centers 
for play and social life. In some cities where the cost of land for 
playgrounds is exceedingly high (there are instances where land 
has been purchased at over $1,000,000 per acre for playgrounds) 
the municipal authorities have closed certain cross streets after 
3 p. m. for use as playgrounds. These closed streets become real 
neighborhood centers, even to the extent of "block parties" 
being held in them by the adults of the neighborhood. When 
these closed sections are asphalt paved they are used extensively 
for roller skating. 

Springfield does not, with its ample school grounds, park 
spaces, and home grounds, face the necessity of such intensive 
use of streets. But the fact remains that the streets are much 
used for play, and, with school grounds closed after school hours 
and school buildings practically unused for recreational and 
social purposes, the youth of the city are forced to resort to the 
streets and the commercial amusement places for their afternoon 
and evening recreations. A visitor to the city cannot but be 
impressed by the unusually large numbers of young people from 
twelve to twenty-two years of age drifting up and down the 
"downtown" streets in the evening. 

Standing at the corner of Fifth and Monroe Streets for a space 
of thirty minutes (7.45 to 8.15) on the evening of April first, two 
investigators counted 462 girls and 813 boys, a total of 1,275 
young people, passing that point in the few minutes indicated. 
This was a perfectly normal evening; in fact it seemed that the 
number on the streets was below the average if anything. 

No city can afford to have its young people spending their 
evenings in this way. The responsibility rests squarely with the 
homes, the schools, and the churches, and not to meet it means 

66 



RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD 

disaster. By encouraging and making possible the coming to- 
gether of these young people in their own neighborhoods in recrea- 
tion and social centers, in parties, socials, and entertainments, 




Spiingfield ^ Muddy Ball Ground, but Better than None 




Springfield 



Making the Best of Existing Conditions 



and in clubs— musical, social, dramatic, and civic — the dangers of 
the downtown streets can be lessened and a positive aid to culture, 
refinement, and right living can be provided. 

67 



VII 
THE LIBRARY 

Anyone who has ever enjoyed a good book does not need to be 
told that a public library is a recreational institution. The Lin- 
coln Library building is centrally located and, from the stand- 
point of the traditional hours open to the public, is apparently 
rendering a satisfactory service. It has a children's room and 
special attention is given to their needs. So far, however, there 
is no trained story-teller on the library staff. Such a person 
would make a desirable addition and could accomplish a great 
deal by way of reaching a larger circle of little people and in- 
stilling in them a love of narrative and good books. At present 
no record of visitors to the children's department is kept. For 
the administrative purpose of being able to analyze more in- 
timately the results of the stafif work it would seem that such a 
record should be kept. 

In the basement of the building there are two well equipped 
meeting rooms. It was said that many local organizations held 
their meetings in these rooms, but no record of their names or the 
amount of service rendered them is kept. It was reported that 
some of the organizations, such as the story tellers' club of the 
Teachers' Association, and the Women's Club, which formerly 
met in the library, are now meeting in the Young Women's 
Christian Association building. The removal of these organiza- 
tions raises the question as to their reasons for leaving. It may 
be that these would not, if known, cast any reflection upon the 
library management. Possibly the fact that the library club 
rooms are closed at 9 o'clock in the evening is the particular 
reason. If this early closing hour is seriously mitigating against 
the larger use of these available accommodations it would perhaps 
be well for the board of directors to consider the advisability of 
arranging to keep them open until a later hour, especially on club 
meeting nights. 

68 



RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD 

The library is wisely making additions of German, French, and 
Italian works. The policy of offering immigrants books in their 
own tongues is now followed in many other enterprising libraries 
and could well be extended in Springfield by the addition of new 
books in the above mentioned languages as well as others in 
Lithuanian and any other foreign tongue for which there is a 
real demand 

In its extension work the library is now furnishing deposits of 
books to the telephone exchange, the Illinois Watch Factory, a 
shoe factory, and two laundries. This is a very commendable 
service and should be extended as rapidly as means permit, and 
the facts regarding this service should be given publicity to the 
end that adequate public support for the library may be secured. 

The most important part of this extension work is that con- 
nected with the schools. Collections averaging over 300 books 
each have been placed in eight public schools and one parochial 
school. Plans are now on foot to start two additional branch 
libraries this coming fall. Such collections should eventually be 
found in all the public schools of the city. Through co-opera- 
tion with some of the parent-teacher or other neighborhood 
organizations arrangements might be worked out in the course of 
time by which these collections would serve as nuclei of local 
branch libraries which would be open not only during school 
hours but for a while in the evening under the supervision of 
responsible persons. 

Grand Rapids has branch libraries in six public school build- 
ings which are kept open from noon until 9.30 p. m. each day 
under the charge of trained librarians. By this arrangement the 
public library is brought nearer to the home and the distribution 
of books is facilitated by the school children carrying books home 
to their families. The superintendent of schools in Grand 
Rapids is ex-officio a member of the library board. No doubt the 
co-operation between the public school system and the library in 
Springfield would also be facilitated if the board of library direc- 
tors would voluntarily make an arrangement whereby the super- 
intendent of schools became a member of their board. With 
wider popular use the library would probably receive more ample 
financial support from the tax payers. 

69 



VIII 
THE MUSEUM 

Springfield has an unusual resource for recreation-education 
in the State Museum of Natural History. Although inade- 
quately housed and further handicapped by insufficient funds, 
the museum under its able curator, Dr. A. R. Crook, offers to the 
people of Springfield facilities for most enjoyable and profitable 
use of free time. 

The museum was established in 1851 and has since been com- 
bined with the State Historical Library. It occupies the second 
floor front of the State Arsenal, but is so limited for space that 
only a part of the extensive collection of specimens can be 
mounted and made available to the public. Many valuable 
specimens are of necessity packed away and placed in storage. 
There is urgent need for a suitable building, which thus far the 
legislature has failed to provide. Some money has been spent 
for plans, but here the matter seems to rest. Illustrated lectures 
under the auspices of the museum were given in 19 10 upon such 
topics as Big Game in Alaska, An Ascent of Mt. Blanc, and How 
the Earth is Known to be Millions of Years Old, but recently the 
small appropriation needed for this has also been denied. 

The curator has exceptional ability in mounting and display- 
ing the specimens. The displays, even in the present cramped 
quarters, rival in attractiveness those of the leading museums of 
the world. The accompanying illustration of the Red Deer 
exhibit suggests how well this work has been done. 

The present collection is valued at $110,000, and it could be 
greatly increased at practically no expense if only there were a 
suitable building for it. Several large and valuable collections 
may be had as gifts as soon as adequate quarters are provided. 
Dr. Crook is desirous of making the museum of use to the schools 
in teaching natural history, both by providing accommodations 

70 



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71 



THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY 

at the building for class demonstrations, and by establishing 
branch collections in the schools throughout the state. Local 
collections for addition to these branches could then be en- 
couraged. An active interest on the part of citizens to aid in 
securing the necessary appropriations will make this extension 
work possible. 

A booklet on The Geology of Sangamon County has been 
prepared by the curator, which, if effectively brought to the 
attention of the children and young people, would serve as an 
incentive for excursions, exploring trips, and the making of 
specimen collections. There are few resources for more profitable 
and enjoyable use of free time than this. 



72 



IX 

SEMI-PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS 

Societies, Clubs, and Fraternal Organizations 
Under the head of Society in the newspaper columns of the 
Illinois State Register, 326 occasions were reported during thirty 
days. These may be classified as follows: 

Meetings of church organizations 126 

Meetings of social organizations 103 

Entertainments 37 

Card parties 30 

Balls or dances 23 

Amateur theatricals 7 

Total 326 

A glance at this table will show that 97, or about 30 per cent, 
of these gatherings were of a distinctly recreational character. 
Those which were reported are of course only a part of the total 
number which occurred in the city during that period of time. 
It will thus be seen that the activities of these private organiza- 
tions fill in a considerable part of the leisure of the community. 

Of all the elements of a city's recreation, that afforded by 
private organizations offers the least occasion for community 
concern. It would indeed be a cause for anxiety if societies, 
fraternities, clubs, and so forth did not flourish in a community. 
The coming together of individuals in social groups is one of the 
finest features of modern civilization and the facilitating of such 
gatherings should be a part of every recreational program. A 
large part of the value of these groupings arises from the freedom 
of initiative which they enjoy. Of course, wherever large free- 
dom is granted it frequently happens that it is abused by a 
certain few. An instance in point is afforded by an "entertain- 
ment" included in the above list. 

The event in question was held by a prominent club on March 

73 



THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY 

30 in their club rooms. It was announced in the newspapers as 
an "Athletic Show" and it began with a "battle royal" boxing 
bout among five Negroes. Five burly men, stripped to the 
waist, entered a roped arena on a platform. At the stroke of 
the bell two couples immediately began sparring. The fifth 
man then pitched into one of the boxers who seemed to be having 
the best of it, thus breaking up the pair. The released man 
turned to the other group and picking out one of the men began 
without warning to punch him. And so the fight proceeded. 
No matter how cleverly a man might be holding his own he was 
always in danger of having someone come at him from behind 
with a none too well padded fist. Scientific boxing was not in 
evidence. The contest was one of brutal physical endurance. 
When a man could keep it up no longer he left the ring and the 
winner was the man who stayed in longest. As announced, the 
winner was to receive $4.00, the second place man $2.00, and the 
third $1.00. 

The second event consisted of exhibitions of strength by Max 
Miller and his associates. The third number was a six one- 
minute round boxing contest between the "K brothers," 

aged seven and nine years. Two white-skinned little boys, not 
yet out of the primary grades, in a prize-fighters' ring, fighting 
for the amusement of several hundred business men and sports- 
men! At the end of the contest a shower of nickles, dimes, and 
quarters rained upon the mat in token of the crowd's apprecia- 
tion. Two more boxing contests filled out the evening's enter- 
tainment, one a friendly contest in which the winner was picked 
by the referee's decision, the other running only five rounds which 
ended in a knockout. The M- — — — Quartet sang between 
events. The only mention of this edifying entertainment which 
appeared in one of the next morning's papers is as follows: 

The second athletic entertainment and athletic show of the 

Club was held last evening at 

and the attendance was the largest of the season. M M 

appeared in a strong act, while the Quartette tendered 

a number of pleasing selections. 

There is a state law in Illinois which forbids prize fights. In 
this case it was evaded by calling it an athletic exhibition given 

74 



RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD 

by a private club for its own members. The tickets of admission 
did indeed bear the legend "Member's Ticket," but a couple of 
strangers who had been in Springfield only a few weeks encoun- 
tered no difficulty in purchasing them. Indeed, if all those in the 
audience were members of the club, it is a large and thriving 
organization ! 

The larger freedom enjoyed by private organizations has led to 
abuse in many cities. Two or three individuals get together, 
give themselves a name, hire a hall, arrange a prize fight or a 
dance, print posters and tickets, run off an affair which escapes 
the expense of license and other restrictions imposed upon com- 
mercial amusement enterprises, and nets the "private associa- 
tion" a tidy sum of money. 

Only two recommendations are called for by this situation. 
The first is the responsibility which rests upon all individuals of 
the city to avoid participating in or being members of groups 
which offer any brutalizing, illegal, or unwholesome kind of enter- 
tainment; the second is the obligation resting upon the com- 
munity to provide meeting places in wholesome environments, 
and activities designed to offer a full outlet for all the healthy 
impulses of men and women. Of course it is also expected that 
the police will be alert to prevent such violations of the law as 
the one described above. 

Boxing, in itself, when carried on under the amateur rules is 
a form of exercise which might well be encouraged in school 
social centers and the Young Men's Christian Association gym- 
nasium. Instruction in the manly art can be given in such a 
way that along with the skill in handling the body there will at 
the same time be inculcated the ideal of sport for sport's sake 
instead of sport for a livelihood. 

The Young Men's Christian Association 
The Young Men's Christian Association was started in Spring- 
field over twenty years ago. It is housed in a building that cost 
above $100,000 and is admirably located for the kind of work 
that such an institution is supposed to do. The management 
is in the hands of a board of trustees of 15 members. 

At the time of the recreation survey, the organization was far 

75 



THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY 

from being in a satisfactory condition. Owing to a series of 
unfortunate circumstances the support for the work had seriously 
fallen off and public interest and backing was at low ebb. No 
general secretary was in charge, the building was in a rundown 
and unattractive condition, and the physical director, struggling 
along as best he could under the circumstances, was very much 
disheartened. 

Although the streets, pool rooms, public bowling alleys, skat- 
ing rink, and other amusement resorts were teeming with young 
men, the Young Men's Christian Association building was 
practically deserted. After a visit to the building one would not 
expect it to be otherwise. Some allowance might be made be- 
cause of the fact that repairs and alterations were then going on, 
but this would not account for the untidy and extremely un- 
inviting appearance of those parts of the building not being over- 
hauled nor for the atmosphere of stagnation and lack of ''things 
doing" that pervaded the whole place. Inquiry throughout the 
city from those who would normally be expected to support or 
participate in a Young Men's Christian Association demonstrated 
that leadership and up-to-date administration were the great 
needs. One young man said that when he arrived in the city 
some months before he went to the Young Men's Christian 
Association expecting to join and if possible secure a room there, 
but after looking around a bit he departed without making known 
his purpose in calling. 

Most of the members of the governing board were conscious 
of the condition of affairs, but were struggling with the money- 
raising problem and hoping to put the organization on its feet 
financially before employing a general secretary. The construc- 
tion of dormitories in the upper floors of the building was looked 
upon as a means to that end. One trustee remarked that they 
had closed the year just passed without a deficit in the treasury, 
apparently not appreciating the appalling deficit that had piled 
up against them in lack of service rendered and young men and 
boys led into unfortunate free-time pursuits because the Young 
Men's Christian Association was not functioning as it should. 

It is a source of great satisfaction to be able to report that 
recently the entire work has been reorganized, co-operation 

■76 



RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD 

established with the state and national authorities of the Young 
Men's Christian Association, and a staff of employed workers 
secured, including a general secretary, physical director, boys' 
work secretary, membership secretary, and office secretary. 

This undertaking merits the support of every person in Spring- 
field who is interested in the welfare of young men and boys. 
The work is carried on along such broad lines that no group or 
creed need to hesitate about allying itself with it. Its function 
is to serve as a great club for young men that shall provide 
wholesome, vigorous, attractive recreation under leadership of 
the highest type. 

The Young Women's Christian Association 
The Young Women's Christian Association of Springfield is 
only five years old, but already it has housed itself in an attractive 
and commodious building well located, and has developed an 
effective program of work. Camp Fire Girls have been organ- 
ized under its auspices, and by special arrangement with the 
board of education, classes of high school girls are given gym- 
nasium periods for physical training and games at the association 
building. The organization maintains an excellent cafeteria in 
the basement of the building which is open to the public, and 
young men are welcome to the well appointed reception rooms. 
Mixed social entertainments are frequently held in the building. 
Young women are invited to have their escorts meet them at the 
parlors of the Association. 

The organization is doing an excellent piece of community 
work and, together with the reorganized Young Men's Chris- 
tian Association, deserves substantial public support. Without 
charging membership fees prohibitively large, this work cannot 
be maintained from that source alone. Its public service char- 
acter gives it ample justification for expecting generous support. 

The Churches 

The justification for considering the churches among the 

agencies that should have to do with public recreation comes 

from the fact that recreations right or wrong are such a compelling 

force in the moral life of young people, — and of adults also, — and 

11 



THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY 

because numerous churches reaUzing this fact have been among 
the chief agents in bringing about the estabhshment of children's 
playgrounds and recreation centers for boys and girls. Fre- 
quently it happens that this work is later taken over by the 
municipality or the school authorities and maintained directly 
by funds secured by taxation, but the initiation of the work and 
the pioneer experiments have in numerous cases been made by 
the church directly or one of its departments or affiliated groups. 

Springfield's churches, as compared with those of many other 
cities, have not been specially active in this branch of social 
service. It is true that most of the churches have the traditional 
church socials and society meetings, and in one case a gymnasium 
for children is maintained in connection with the church, but it 
was found that the churches of the city had not in any large way 
taken the lead in making provision for the recreational and social 
life of the boys and girls. In fact, one minister expressed some 
doubt regarding the propriety of giving support — moral and per- 
sonal, not financial — to the local Young Men's Christian Associa- 
tion. This is by no means true of the majority, however. The 
Ministers' Association has taken an active interest in the Spring- 
field Survey as a whole and has aided financially in the under- 
taking. 

When some of the recreation survey findings with reference to 
the conditions surrounding the young people of the city in their 
search for evening amusement were brought to the attention of 
certain of the leading pastors, steps were at once taken to deal 
in a preventive way, at least, with the situation. One result 
was the stimulating of a public inquiry into the conduct of one 
of the local amusement places with the result that measures for 
its regulation and control were put into operation. Another 
outcome was action that led to the removal of the red lights and 
the names on the doors in the ''red light" district, — the section 
that had been a conspicuously glaring insult to the decency of 
Springfield's citizenship for some time. That part of the city 
has since been properly lighted, and whether or not this treat- 
ment is adequate to meet the situation the fact remains that this 
industry no longer flaunts its brazen advertisements in the faces 
of the city's youth. 

78 



RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD 

For these and other efforts to suppress evil the churches of the 
city should be given credit, but some of us think that they ought 
to go further and take the leadership in bringing public opinion 
up to the point where it will demand that adequate provision be 
made for properly equipped and supervised playgrounds, athletic 
fields, and recreation centers for the youth of the city. Strict 
regulation, and sometimes absolute prohibition, of certain public 
resorts that are maintained for profit, is unquestionably neces- 
sary, but this must be accompanied by positive action in pro- 
viding right facilities for recreation, the lack of which frequently 
stimulates the establishment of agencies of the undesirable sort. 

In Brooklyn, New York, the Sunday schools of the city have 
organized a Sunday School Athletic League which is governed 
by a central body made up of representatives of the different 
churches. It holds athletic meets at frequent intervals, open to 
the members of the Sunday schools concerned, and provides a 
great variety of tournaments and games through the year. The 
league has been instrumental in bringing about a marked im- 
provement in public facilities for recreation within its territory. 
Several other cities have similar organizations that are doing 
much to build up a higher type of citizenship. 



79 



X 

COMMERCIAL AMUSEMENTS 

Motion Pictures 

In March, IQ14, when the recreation survey was made, 10 
motion-picture theaters were in operation. Upon investigation 
it was found that, as respects ventilation and cleanUness, only 
two or three of the houses were not in fairly satisfactory condition. 
As a rule, also, the illumination of the audience was sufficient to 
minimize objectionable conduct and as far as could be observed 
order was fairly well maintained. The programs were of average 
character, neither exceptionally good nor shockingly bad. No 
unclean pictures were observed although not all of them bore 
the approval of the National Board of Censorship. 

The city ordinances contain regulations regarding the licensing 
of motion-picture shows and also specify how the cinematograph 
machines shall be installed and housed. The latter, if properly 
enforced, are adequate for the avoidance of fire hazards peculiar 
to this sort of enterprise. The regulations, however, are de- 
fective in their requirements regarding the moral conditions 
surrounding the motion-picture business. They now provide 
that the mayor may refuse to approve applications for licenses 
if the place for which a license is desired is not a "fit and proper 
place and not constructed, maintained, operated, or conducted 
in accordance with the provisions of the ordinances of the city 
governing and controlling said places, or if the entertainment 
desired to be produced or offered be of an immoral or dangerous 
character, or the person making application for a license be not 
of a good moral character. " They, however, provide no machinery 
for regular inspection of existing theaters with a view to deter- 
mining whether or not the moral and sanitary conditions required 
before licensing are maintained afterwards, a defect that should 

80 



RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD 

be promptly remedied.* While the character of the motion- 
picture entertainments now offered in Springfield is of aver- 
age wholesomeness, what assurance is there that objectionable 
features will not surreptitiously creep into them? Should it not 
be somebody's job to see that they are kept out? Some cities 
have met this situation by the regulation that only such pictures 
may be exhibited as have been passed by the National Board of 
Censorship. 

The total number of seats in the lo motion-picture houses 
referred to above is 3,232. The commissioner of buildings, who 
is in and out of the "movies" continually making fire inspections, 
estimated that the daily patronage amounts to three times the 
seating capacity of the theaters. While it is believed that this 
estimate is too high, the reports of the high school students as 
to the frequency of their attendance and other indications furnish 
basis for the belief that on an average these houses are filled up 
and emptied at least 12 times a week. Since many of them are 
open on Sunday this is not quite two times a day. At that rate 
the total amount paid in motion-picture admissions in Spring- 
field is more than $2,000 a week during the regular season. At 
the time this study was made three additional theaters were soon 
to be opened, a bit of additional evidence of the good patronage 
enjoyed by the existing theaters. 

The large amount of attendance at motion-picture theaters 
raises several questions which should be pondered by all those 
who have the moral and intellectual welfare of the city at heart. 
Granting that on the whole the entertainment offered by these 
theaters is fairly wholesome, it still must be admitted that it is 
of a passive character, calling for little activity on the part of the 
spectators, and that while some of the films furnish information 
of a valuable character a large proportion of them present pictures 
of life which cannot be considered very faithful mirrorings of 
the actual facts. Would not a better balance be maintained in 
the lives of many of the young people if a certain part of the time 
they are now giving to witnessing films could be given to parti- 
cipation in games, musical and dramatic exercises, and other 
activities which afford expression of individual tastes and im- 
* See Appendix, pp. 124-126. 
6 81 



THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY 

pulses? Is not the provision of this more positive, construc- 
tive, recreational opportunity a matter of community concern? 
Also, should not a systematic inspection of motion-picture 
theaters and other entertainments be exercised by some public 
body? 

Theaters 
There are four theaters in Springfield, known as the Majestic, 
Gaiety, Empire, and Chatterton. Two of these offer vaudeville 
performances three times daily; the third, burlesque nightly; 




The Chatterton and Its Surroundings 

while the fourth offers a varied program. Their combined seat- 
ing capacity is about 2,900. A conservative estimate would 
place their combined weekly receipts at about $4,000 during the 
regular season. The citizens of Springfield thus spend about 
$6,000 a week upon motion pictures and theater performances. 

The only theater which makes a pretense of offering anything 
more serious than vaudeville is the Chatterton. It is located 
only a block from the red-light district and is flanked by one 
saloon on one side and three on the other side. An examination 
of its offerings on 18 dates beginning at the end of March and 
running through May showed the following results: Drama, 2; 

82 



RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD 

comedy, 4; musical comedy, 4; burlesque, 2; wrestling matches, 
4; vaudeville, i ; motion picture, i. A selection of the offerings 
during midwinter might show a somewhat higher percentage of 
serious drama. 

In Springfield's least pretentious theater the visitor can pay 
either 10 or 25 cents for admission. If he pays the larger sum 
he is admitted to the gallery, which is devoted entirely to some 
score of boxes each containing a total of four or more chairs, placed 
around a small table. No sooner has he taken his seat than his 
box will be invaded by a young woman in short skirts who bounces 
in, takes a seat, and invites herself to have a drink at the visitor's 
expense. If he accedes she pushes a bell and a waiter appears. 
The visitor then discovers that while he may order beer if he 
wishes to, his companion is limited to some more expensive 
beverage. There is a list of prices on the door of the box, but if 
the visitor is not wary he will find himself paying considerably 
more than the list calls for. Before departing the waiter hands 
the young woman a check which she blithely discloses determines 
her personal commission. The young woman's manner is not 
distant and although she may be interrupted occasionally by the 
necessity of going on the stage, to participate in a bit of vocal or 
physical exercise, she w^ill stay w4th her victim as long as her 
seductive companionship induces him to patronize the waiter. 

Downstairs on the main floor, the chairs are grouped around 
little tables and although no women are present the waiters pass 
continually back and forth soliciting orders for drinks and cigars. 
On the stage a number of performers are giving a series of sketches, 
songs, and dances which but for the headliner that is to come at 
the end would not hold any intelligent person ten minutes if he 
had any other place where he could get in out of the cold. The 
last number on the program is usually an Oriental dance which 
often exceeds the utmost limits of propriety and decency. The 
city code forbids the holding of lotteries as inducements to 
patronize theatrical performances, but on the following page are 
shown announcements clipped from this theater's program and a 
couple of tickets which it sold in March, 1914. 

Night after night in this theater men are surrounded with the 
most unblushing temptations to excessive drinking and immor- 

83 



THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY 

ality. Into such an environment thousands of youths from the 
country are led by the innocent desire to see the "shows" of the 
city. 

While the bulk of the theatrical performances attended by 
Springfield citizens are on the whole fairly clean and any attempt 
at smuttiness or rawness on the stage is generally hissed by the 
audience, yet on the whole the theatrical life of the city is not a 
thing to be proud of. Those people who are interested in the 
welfare of the city and yet have maintained only a negative and 
disapproving attitude toward the theater may well consider 



heatre 



RESERVED SEATS «Up-Stairs 
25 Cents 



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121 COITIST 



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it i.»a, v.-i>-ii <ih" fh-e Dollar* 



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BE SURE AND GET YOUB 

COUPONS AT THE 

TICKET OFFICE. 

S5 OB 110 CASH GIVEN AWAY EACH 

SATURDAY NiGHT. 

Show Starts Every Night at 8:00 Sharp 



Two Springfield Theater Tickets and a Bit of the Program 
Lotteries are forbidden by ordinance 



whether in so doing they have discharged their full community 
responsibilities. Is there not an obligation resting upon them to 
take a constructive part in the work of giving the local drama 
the wholesome and cultural influence to which it is rightfully 
entitled? In bringing the Irish Players to Springfield the drama 
study class of the Women's Club took a step in the right direction 
and the effort might well be extended to the systematic organiza- 
tion of patronage for high grade dramatic offerings in accordance 
with the plan of the National Drama League. 

At the same time endeavors should be made to develop amateur 

84 



RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD 

theatricals at school social centers and other educational institu- 
tions with a view to stimulating among young people generally 
such an appreciation of good drama that they will never be 
satisfied with performances of a low and unrefined quality. 

Dance Halls 

When this survey was made there were only two licensed dance 
halls in Springfield according to the records in the city clerk's 
offtce. At that time one of these, the Arion Dance Hall, was 
holding dances only Wednesday and Saturday evenings, and the 
other, at 1123 East Washington Street, was apparently not open 
very often. In addition to these two resorts there are two 
dancing academies open two or three nights a week, and four or 
five halls which are rented for occasional balls. Dances are also 
held once or twice a week at the new Leland Hotel. In practi- 
cally all of these places payment of the admission fee Is the only 
restriction upon attendance. In the dancing academies the 
admission on regular assembly nights is nominally by card, but 
Invitations are secured without difificulty. 

The resort which enjoys the largest patronage Is the Arion 
Dance Hall. Here an orchestra of four pieces plays from 9 to 12 
and dancing takes place upon a spacious floor. Ladies are 
admitted free and any man who has a quarter can secure admis- 
sion. The dance is conducted under the auspices of the orchestra 
which furnishes the music. An ofificer in plain clothes, with his 
hat on, stands on the side and prevents any flagrant disorder. 
The latter end of March the attendance ran between 300 and 500 
persons, but the doorkeeper said that on "big nights" they some- 
times had 500 couples. Among the patrons there are usually a 
number of elderly people, husbands and wives, mothers and their 
daughters, and even young children, but the majority are between 
the ages of fifteen and twenty-five. While "breaking" is not 
practiced, introductions are not indispensable. The positions 
held by the dancers did not ordinarily show conspicuous im- 
propriety. The old-time waltz and two-step were danced in the 
main, but an occasional "tango " was interpolated In the program. 
When the so-called modern dances were called the number on the 
floor diminished and the girls showed a tendency to dance the 

85 



THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY 

one-step only with their own "fellows." During these dances 
some of the partners were held pretty close. 

Only soft drinks are sold in the hall, but pass-out checks are 
freely given and many young men went out between dances to 
the saloon on the corner. No intoxication, however, was evident. 

A dance on the North Side was advertised by the 

Club. The investigators found that admission was freely ob- 
tained at the rate of 25 cents per couple. The hall was one flight 
up and adjoined a pool room. Some youths were playing cards 
in the check room. No elderly people were present and the 
"tone" of the place was rather rough. Only 15 couples were 
present that evening, but the conditions were favorable for much 
license. There was a saloon across the street and the patrons 
had perfect liberty in the matter of leaving the hall during the 
dancing. While nothing decidedly objectionable was witnessed 
on this occasion the situation was one that could be very easily 
abused to the moral detriment of the unsuspecting young people 
who might be brought in by announcements of such a dance. 

There are no ordinances or written police regulations on the 
subject of dance halls. The practice of the police department 
is to oblige the dance hall licensees to have in attendance at every 
dance, a uniformed policeman whose function it is to see that 
very young girls and prostitutes are kept out and that order is 
maintained. The requirement of a policeman in attendance 
does not hold in respect to the occasional balls and parties held 
in the several halls of the city where such functions frequently 
occur. 

Briefly, then, in Springfield there is a large amount of uncon- 
trolled and unsupervised dancing and much of it is carried on 
under conditions which may easily be abused. The situation 
requires the serious attention of all Springfield citizens who have 
the welfare of young people at heart. A definite policy concern- 
ing public dancing should be formulated and put into effect. 
All public-spirited citizens who do not believe in dancing at all 
should squarely face the question: If dancing cannot be pre- 
vented is it not advisable to make sure that the surroundings in 
which it is taking place are wholesome and under control of 
people having the welfare of their patrons at heart? 

86 



RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD 

Dancing was once a vehicle of social life. It is now tending 
to become an end in itself. By opening the school houses for 
neighborhood dancing parties the citizens of Springfield can do 
much toward giving dancing its proper place in social life. In 
addition to a positive and constructive policy a city ordinance* 
should also be passed prohibiting the giving of pass-out checks or 
the holding of dances in halls connected with a bar, specifying 
the ages of those who may be admitted, and otherwise providing 
for the maintenance of order and decency at the public dances. 

Billiard and Pool Rooms 
According to the records in the city clerk's ofhce billiard and 
pool licenses were issued for 19 14 to 60 persons. The total 
amount they paid into the city treasury, is $1,293.65, and the 
number of tables covered by these licenses is 140. According 
to the record of the saloon licenses in force during the first half 
of 1 9 14, 42 of these pool-room licensees also run saloons on the 
same premises. (Since July i, 1914, the saloon licenses of six of 
these have been discontinued.) More than half of the pool 
rooms are inside of the saloon district, a district in the center of 
the city six blocks wide by nine blocks long. Accordingly the 
young men in the outskirts of the city who wish to play pool have 
usually to go downtown for their evening games where all of the 
attractions of Springfield's night life are in full swing. The 
temptations which surround the young man who wishes to play 
billiards or pool have been described on pages 10 and 11. The 
recommendation which is here made is that the public-spirited 
people of Springfield might well begin to think of ways and means 
of placing this attractive and excellent game in surroundings 
where it can be enjoyed without exposure to moral hazards. 

Saloons 
At the time of the recreational investigation there were 220 
licensed saloons in Springfield. Of these, iii were situated 
outside of the saloon district mentioned above, which is bounded 
by Second, Mason, and Eleventh Streets, and Capitol Avenue, 
an area equal to 54 blocks. An ordinance defining the saloon 
* For suggestions for a new ordinance see Appendix, Topic G, p. 122. 

87 



THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY 

district was passed August lo, 1908, and provided that after its 
passage no licenses should be issued for a saloon outside the 
prescribed district "in any room or building not occupied or used 
for saloon purposes at the time of the passage of this ordinance." 
Since the issuance of the licenses for the fiscal year beginning 
July I, 1 9 14, it is reported that there are now 198 saloons in the 
city, 22 less than the previous year. Seven of the former dram- 
shop keepers were in the bad graces of the police and wisely 
did not apply for licenses, while the remaining 15 dropped out 
because of business laxity. 

The referendum on the saloon question in the spring election 
showed two things: first, the tenacity of the institution, and 
second, the fact that the wisdom of allowing the saloon to exist is 
seriously questioned by a large element of the population. Now 
that Springfield has begun to think about the saloon question 
there is no doubt but that it will finally arrive at the right 
answer, but the solution of the problem is not merely a negative 
and sudden abrogation of the right to sell alcoholic beverages. If 
in its thinking on this subject Springfield will consider not only 
the harm saloons do, but also the deep-rooted social needs which 
they meet; if the discussions will take up constructive plans as 
well as the prohibitive ones ; it will be able to legislate the saloon 
out of existence with a great deal more certainty, and in so doing 
it will permanently enhance the welfare of the citizens. No 
institution is able to exist solely by reason of the evil that it does. 
It exists in spite of the evil because it meets some human need. 
If you want to undermine it build another institution which will 
perform its wholesome function and at the same time be free 
from its objectionable features. 



88 



XI 



ATHLETICS, FESTIVALS, PAGEANTS, AND PUBLIC 
CELEBRATIONS 

Athletics 

With its extensive park spaces and the state fair grounds 

available for all forms of outdoor athletics, Springfield has the 

opportunity to do great things for its young men. The necessary 

steps in this matter are organization, standardization, and pro- 




Factory Park in Springfield 
Could be improved by keeping the center free of apparatus and clear for 

games 

motion. There should be a great municipal athletic league in 

which the public-spirited men of the city would assist in guiding 

this important work.* Athletics may be most helpful or posi- 

* For information in regard to similar leagues in other cities see Appendix, 
Topic D, p. 120. 

89 




Public Provision for Athletics and Play in East Orange, N. J. 







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An Occasion at the East Orange, N. J., Field 



90 



RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD 

tively harmful in their influence. It is for the men of the city to 
determine their character. High standards in sport and ad- 
herence to rules of eligibility and competition are possible only 
if those who themselves have such ideals take an active interest 
in the matter. 

An unusual number of Springfield's industrial establishments 
already have baseball teams that operate through an informal 
sort of federation. This would serve as the nucleus around which 
to build. The teams in this group whose names were discovered 
during the survey are : 

Name of baseball team Institution represented 

Appels Appel Clothing Store 

B. & O Baltimore and Ohio Railway 

Bankers Independent 

Braves Independent 

Bunnies John W. Bunn and Co. 

Business Men Independent 

Carpenters Carpenters' Union 

Central Union Central Union Telephone Co. 

City Hall Independent 

Combacks Independent 

Court of Honor Court of Honor Insurance Co. 

Dundees Dundee Clothing Co. 

Enterprise Cleaners Enterprise Cleaning Co. 

E. and W E. and W. Clothing Co. 

lies Park Independent 

Lafayette-Smith Lafayette-Smith Grocery Co. 

Meter Works Sangamon Meter Works 

Meyers Brothers Meyers Brothers Clothing Co. 

Meyers Brothers Juniors. . . . Meyers Brothers Clothing Co. 

Moose. . Loyal Order of Moose 

Newarks Newark Clothing Co. 

Painters Painters' Union 

Paris Cleaning Co Paris Cleaning Co. 

Press Independent (newspapers) 

Ratz Cubs Ratz Grocery Co. 

Roberts Laundry Roberts Laundry 

Shoe Factory Shoe Factory 

Watch Factory Springfield Watch Factor}^ 

Private athletic grounds adjacent to or near the plants of 
some of these establishments would greatly stimulate participa- 
tion. It is not unusual for business concerns to make provision 
of this kind as a resource for recreation at the noon hour as well 
as after hours. One of the furniture manufacturing companies 
of Grand Rapids, Michigan, has a fine field of this kind. A great 
municipal athletic field with dressing rooms, showers, and a 

91 




92 



RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD 

large indoor swimming pool is an object toward which Springfield 
might well work. 

Track and field athletics deserve even more attention than do 
the team games. They afford greater opportunities for exten- 
sive participation. Competition among local groups should be 
emphasized, inter-city meets being incidental to it. The aim 
should be to get every young man in Springfield actively inter- 
ested in some branch of athletics. No investment could be made 
that would yield larger civic and social returns. 

Festivals and Pageants 
Festivals and pageants belong to the spring. Then the call 
of the great out-of-doors is strongest and the coming of new life 




How Buffalo Celebrates May Day 



invites rejoicing and celebration. The freedom of spring con- 
trasted with the shut-in life of winter brings a challenge from the 
fields and woods that no one can or should attempt to resist. 
The May Day and Arbor Day celebrations for the children, 
the spring games and exhibitions of the schools, and the historical 
pageants for the whole community depicting the past and proph- 
esying the future, offer a program of out-of-door play that has 

93 



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THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY 

Splendid possibilities. The parks afford the natural setting for 
these events. Springfield is well equipped in this respect. The 
play festival held by the Teachers' Training School last May is a 
good illustration of what might be done by numerous other 
agencies to enrich the play life of the city. 

Springfield ought to begin plans soon for a pageant. It would 
be a logical subsequence of the survey. The modern pageant 
has been described by William Chauncy Langdon, one of the 
foremost pageant directors in America, as "a drama in which the 
place is the hero and the development of the community is the 
plot." Hundreds of people take part; in fact, that is one of its 
valuable features. When a boy or girl, man or woman, has im- 
personated for a season some character that has wielded an in- 
fluence in the development and progress of his or her city, it is 
impossible to drift back again into the old attitude of irresponsible 
disinterestedness that is characteristic of so many citizens with 
respect to public affairs. The pageant presents, by means of 
dramatic episodes, the past, present, and prophetic future of the 
community, and aims to inspire and quicken public spirit for 
substantial forward movements. 

Public Celebrations 
Public holidays are not generally made use of as they should 
be in America. The reforms that have come about in the cele- 
bration of Independence Day suggest what might be done with 
other holidays. These advances will not come of their own 
accord. Careful thought and diligent planning are essential. 
A number of cities have standing committees or commissions 
appointed by the municipal authorities who hold oflice through- 
out the year and are charged with the responsibility of seeing to 
it that the public holidays are appropriately observed. Boston 
has a city official known as the director of public celebrations, 
and budget provisions are regularly made for financing these 
occasions. A citizens' committee operates with him, and con- 
tributions are solicited to augment the funds for the various 
celebrations. Springfield might well consider some such plans. 



96 



XII 

A RECREATION PROGRAM FOR THE FUTURE 

"Work, play, love, and worship" are set down as the chief 
essentials in a human being's existence by Dr. Richard C. Cabot 
in his recent book. What Men Live By. That the country at 
large is awakening to a realization of this vital importance of 
play is evidenced by the fact that since 1907 the American cities 
that provide equipped and supervised play and recreation centers 
have increased from 40 to 342. Play leaders and supervisors 
employed in these cities total 6,318, — 2,462 men and 3,856 
women. Springfield is not in that list. 

A city-wide recreation program ought to take into considera- 
tion : 

1. Home recreation and its supplementary aids. 

2. School playgrounds for recess, after school, and summer use. 

3. iVthletic fields for school children, both as part of the school 
yards and as separate grounds. 

4. Playgrounds for small children located in sections that are 
from one-third to one-half mile distant from school playgrounds. 

5. School buildings, field houses, and public halls that may be 
used as evening recreation and social centers. 

6. Parks, with large informally developed areas, as well as 
spaces for golf, tennis, baseball, track and field athletics, chil- 
dren's play, bathing, wading, and skating. 

7. Semi-public institutions, such as a Young Men's Christian 
Association, church houses, clubs, and so forth that may serve 
special groups, and on occasion be for public use. 

8. Commercial amusements such as amusement parks, dance 
halls, skating rinks, bowling alleys, motion-picture shows and 
theaters, that may well serve some of the community's recreation 
needs if properly regulated and controlled. 

7 97 



THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY 

The preceding chapters of this report have discussed the rec- 
reation needs and opportunities of Springfield. With these 
local conditions in mind, the following plan of procedure is 
recommended : 

I. School yards, some park spaces, and certain new sites should 
be developed and equipped for play. 

(a) Every school yard can become a neighborhood play 
center if the detailed plans submitted with this report are 
followed. 

(b) Many park spaces are now equipped as athletic fields 
or children's playgrounds. A golf course should be added 
and dressing rooms provided. These should not monopolize 
the parks, but may be so located as to leave large areas in 
their natural state or only informally developed for walking, 
driving, and the various forms of quiet, restful recreation. 

(c) A centrally located athletic field for school children is 
needed, and playgrounds — other than school yards — for 
children should be secured in the vicinity of the following 
sections : (These might well be provided by the park board.) 

Seventh Street and Lawrence Avenue. 
Seventeenth and Cook Streets. 
Fifteenth and Jefferson Streets. 
Seventh and Mason Streets. 
Second Street and North Grand Avenue. 
Pasfield and Vine Streets. 

II. In addition to the regular physical training instruction in 
the schools, the administration of the activities on all public 
playgrounds and athletic fields in the city should be in charge of 
the director of physical training and play. A joint committee, 
consisting of two representatives each from the school board and 
park board, should be appointed to deal with all matters pertain- 
ing to this work on park property; this to include the financing, 
which should be done jointly. (The special conditions existing 
in Springfield make this desirable. It might not be at all adapt- 
able to some other city.) 

(a) The teaching of games for playground and home yard 
use should be as definite a part of school instruction as music, 

98 



RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD 

drawing, and so forth. The director of physical training 
and play should supervise this work. 

(b) The recess periods should be definitely organized^and 
class teachers should be assigned to yard duty. Coaching 
classes for teachers should be conducted by the director of 
physical training and play. 

(c) All school grounds, should be open for play from the 
closing of school to 5.30 or 6 p. m. and on Saturdays, and 
teachers or others equipped for such workshould be in charge. 
They must, of course, be compensated for this work. 

(d) All playgrounds should be kept open and supervised 
during the summer; this to include playgrounds and ath- 
letic fields in the parks. 

(e) Competent persons should be assigned to all athletic 
fields after school hours and on Saturdays, also at stated 
hours in summer. Much volunteer service will be possible 
in this connection by teachers and principals who accompany 
their boys to the various games. 

III. School buildings may well serve as centers of civic, social, 
and recreational activities, and should be so constructed, re- 
modeled, and equipped as to serve this purpose. 

(a) Basement play rooms could be provided in all of the 
schools. These would serve in inclement weather, in the 
evening, especially during winter, and also during the ex- 
cessive heat of midsummer. 

(b) Movable furniture in certain of the class rooms would 
make them serviceable for social center use. 

(c) An auditorium and a gymnasium, either combined or 
separate, would lend themselves to numerous civic, social, 
and recreational uses. 

IV. The organization and maintenance of social centers should 
be provided for through additions to the staff of the superinten- 
dent of schools, and appropriations should be made for needed 
equipment and supplies. The plan of administration should 
include coordinate work with the department of physical train- 
ing and the co-operation of parent-teachers' associations in the 
support and direction of the school centers. 

99 



THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY 

V. A public schools athletic league should be organized for the 
grammar schools with branches for both boys and girls. (Form 
of Constitution may be had by applying to organizations listed 
on page 105.) 

(a) Each branch should have its own governing board, 
made up of representatives of the schools, the park authori- 
ties, and the churches, together with other interested citizens. 

(b) The director of physical training and play might well 
be the executive secretary of each of these branches. 

(c) Emphasis should be placed on group competitions 
and athletic badge tests within each school, but inter-school 
tournaments and meets should also be arranged. (Details 
are suggested in the Appendix.) 

(d) The giving of trophies and medals should be avoided 
as much as possible. Public occasions at which recognition 
for marked achievement is given serve the purpose much 
better. 

VI. A city committee on holiday celebrations should be 
appointed by the mayor to be responsible for organizing suitable 
exercises for the various public holidays ; this committee to serve 
throughout the year. It should be a thoroughly representative 
committee, including in its membership the business interests of 
the city as well as schools, churches, clubs, and so forth. 

VII. There should be a municipal athletic league for the young 
men of the city. This league would logically be governed by 
representatives of the various clubs and institutions that have to 
do with young men either as members or employes. (There are 
at least 28 such groups in the city that have athletic teams.) 
Such an organization could greatly extend and improve the 
athletic activities of the young men. 

VIII. A Boy Scout Local Council is needed to carry forward 
this work which was started about two years ago but relapsed 
for lack of leadership. (Although scouting is not now being 
promoted at all in Springfield, "scout activities" stand well up in 
the list of recreations most pursued by Springfield boys.) 

Boy Scouts and Camp Fire Girls should be organized ex- 

100 



RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD 

tensively in schools, churches, and other organizations working 
with the boys and girls. (The Young Women's Christian Asso- 
ciation has made progress with the Camp Fire Girls. Instead 
of a local council, this organization has a chief guardian who 
looks after the local work and is responsible to national head- 
quarters.) 

IX. In order that systematic and steady progress may be 
made in developing the city's recreation as a whole, it is necessary 
that there should be a permanent city committee on recreation 
composed of the superintendent of schools, and one representative 
each of the principals, the school board, park board. Commercial 
Association, Women's Club, Municipal Athletic League, Public 
Schools Athletic League for Boys, Public Schools Athletic League 
for Girls, High School Athletic Association, Young Men's 
Christian Association, Young Women's Christian Association, 
Ministers' Association, Diocese of the Catholic Church, Jewish 
Synagogue, parent-teacher associations, and such other organiza- 
tions, institutions, and groups as have to do with the youths of 
the city. Other interested citizens should be elected to member- 
ship. 

(a) Sub-committees on different phases of the city's 
recreations should be appointed to keep in close touch with 
developments and report to the committee at regular inter- 
vals. 

(b) The committee should keep the recreation interests 
of the city before the public, see that the right sort of ad- 
ministration prevails, and aid in securing the necessary 
funds. 

X. The amusements of the city that are conducted for gain 
form a very real part of the local recreation resources. They 
should be used, not suppressed. This can be accomplished by 
proper inspection and control. (Model ordinances for this 
purpose are given in the Appendix, pp. 122 and 124.) 



THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY 



Summary of Recommendations 

1. Equip and use school yards and some park spaces for play. 

2. Provide for a centrally located athletic field for the schools. 

3. Place the administration of all playground and school 
athletic activities in charge of the director of physical training 
and play. 

4. Teach games for playground and home yard use at play 
periods on school yards and other public playgrounds. 

5. Remodel and equip school buildings for social center uses. 

6. Provide for administration of social centers through ad- 
ditions to the staff of the superintendent of schools. 

7. Encourage the co-operation of neighborhood organizations 
in the direction and support of the school house centers. 

8. Organize school athletic leagues for both boys and girls, 
thus insuring proper supervision of such activities and adapta- 
tion of exercises to the needs of the different age and sex groups. 

9. Have a standing city committee on holiday celebrations. 

10. Organize a municipal athletic league for the young men 
of the city. 

11. Provide for the extension of Boy Scouts and Camp Fire 
Girls. 

12. See that there is proper inspection and control of the com- 
mercial amusements of the city. 

13. Have a representative city committee on recreation to be 
responsible for a progressive and balanced development of all 
parts of the city- wide recreation program. 

14. Do not attempt to do it all the first year. Make a begin- 
ning and work steadily toward the ultimate plan. 

The first and most important step toward carrying out the 
recommendations of this report has already been taken — the 
employment of a first-class director of physical training and 
play in the public schools. 'As the succeeding steps are con- 
sidered, his extended experience in and study of recreation ad- 
ministration will be of great value to the school and park authori- 
ties and to the citizens' committees. He will be able to advise 

102 



RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD 

about equipment and determine the expense involved. Sugges- 
tions on these points have, as far as is practicable, been given in 
this report. Further details must depend upon local develop- 
ments. 

It would, of course, be impracticable to attempt to put into 
effect at once all the recommendations here made. The thought 
is rather that the suggested recreation program be considered 
as an ideal toward which to work. Few cities have a better 
prospect of attaining such an ideal than has Springfield. 



id; 



APPENDIX 

Topic A. Social Centers 
Ideas for social center programs may be obtained from the 
printed reports published by various boards of education con- 
cerning the recreational and social activities in their schools*. 
Sometimes these accounts are embodied in the annual school 
report and sometimes they are printed separately. In making 
application it is desirable to state the kind of information desired. 
Such reports are published by the boards of education of New 
York, Chicago, Boston, Milwaukee, Detroit, Los Angeles, and 
Louisville. Pamphlets containing suggestions for social center 
activities are also published from time to time by the Extension 
Division of the University of Wisconsin and by the Department 
of Recreation of the Russell Sage Foundation. Detailed des- 
criptions of social and recreation centers are given in the book. 
Wider Use of the School Plant.* 

Topic B. Public Schools Athletic League for Boys 
Forms of organization and activities may be had from the 
printed reports issued by the following cities : 

Baltimore, Md. San Diego, Cal. 

Public Athletic League, Social Elementary Schools Athletic 

Service Corporation. League, Board of Education. 

Buffalo, N. Y. San Francisco, Cal. 

Public School Athletic League, Public Schools Athletic League, 

Board of Education. Board of Education. 

Jersey City, N. J. Seattle, Wash. 

Public Schools Athletic Assn., Grammar School Athletic 

Board of Education. League, Board of Education. 

Newark, N. J. Springfield, Mass. 

Public School Athletic Assn., Public School Athletic Assn., 

Board of Education. Board of Education. 

New Orleans, La. Tacoma, Wash. 

Public Schools Athletic League, Public Schools Athletic League, 

Board of Education. Board of Education. 

New York, N. Y. Troy, N. Y. 

Public Schools Athletic League, Public Schools Athletic League, 

Board of Education. Board of Education. 

Salem, Mass. Washington, D. C. 

Elementary Schools Athletic Public Schools Athletic League, 

Assn., Board of Education. Director of Playgrounds. 

* Perry, Clarence A.: Wider Use of the School Plant. New York, Survey 
Associates, Inc., 1910. 

105 



THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY 

To aid in fostering clean sport the following rules of conduct 
have been quite generally adopted under the name of "athletic 
courtesy." 

1. The rules of games are to be regarded as mutual agreements, the spirit 
or letter of which no gentleman would break. The stealing of advantage 
in sport is theft. 

2. Visiting teams are to be honored guests of the home team, and should 
be treated as such. 

3. No action is to be taken nor course of conduct pursued which would 
seem ungentlemanly or dishonorable if known to one's opponent or the pub- 
He. 

4. No advantages are to be sought over others except those in which the 
game is understood to show superiority. 

5. Officers and opponents are to be regarded and treated as honest in in- 
tention. When opponents are evidently not gentlemen, and officers mani- 
festly dishonest or incompetent, future relationships with them may be 
avoided. 

6. Decisions of officials are to be abided by, even when they seem unfair. 

7. Ungentlemanly or unfair means are not to be used even when they are 
used by opponents. 

8. Good points in others should be appreciated and suitable recognition 
given. 

The events that have been demonstrated to be most suitable 
for grammar school boys are : 

85-pound Class 115-pound Class 

50 Yards Dash 70 Yards Dash 

Running High Jump 8-pound Shot Put 

Running Broad Jump Running Broad Jump 

360 Yards Relay Race 440 Yards Relay Race 

lOO-pound Class Unlimited Weight Class 

60 Yards Dash 1 00 Yards Dash 

Running High Jump 12-pound Shot Put 

Running Broad Jump Running High Jump 

440 Yards Relay Race • 880 Yards Relay Race 

(To guard against overstrain and to make it possible for a 
greater number to participate boys may enter one event only.) 

The Athletic Badge Test, details of which are given below, 
has been adopted by the Playground and Recreation Association 

106 



RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD 

of America,* i Madison Avenue, New York City, as furnishing 
standards to which every boy ought to attain. The national 
badges, in bronze, for these standards are furnished by the asso- 
ciation at 15 cents each. 

First Test 

Pull Up (Chinning) 4 times 

Standing Broad Jump 5 ft. 9 in. 

60 Yards Dash 8i seconds 

Second Test 

Pull Up (Chinning) 6 times 

Standing Broad Jump 6 ft. 6 in. 

60 Yards Dash 8 seconds 

(or) 100 Yards Dash 14 seconds 

Third Test 

Pull Up (Chinning) . 9 times 

Running High Jump 4 ft. 4 in. 

220 Yards Run 28 seconds 

The following general rules shall govern the final competition : 

No boy is permitted to receive more than one badge for any grade in any 
one year. 

It is necessary to qualify in all three events in any one class in order to 
win a badge. 

There shall be but one trial in chinning, one in the dashes, and three in 
the jumps. 

I. Pull Up (Chinning) 

A portable chinning bar in a doorway, a horizontal bar in the gymnasium, 
or the rungs of a ladder set at an angle against a building may serve the 
purpose. 

Each contestant begins with his hands on the bar. Then with his arms 
straightened at full length he pulls himself up without a kick, snap, jerk, 
or swing, until his chin is above the bar. Lowering himself again until his 
arms are straight, he repeats the "Pull Up." 

2. Standing Broad Jump 
Whenever possible it is best to prepare a jumping pit by digging up a 
piece of ground about 4 feet by 25 feet and have a wooden strip 2 inches by 
4 inches embedded in the ground at one end of the pit, flush with the surface, 
to serve as a 'Hake off." It is also well to mark off 5 feet 9 inches and 6 
feet 6 inches from the " take off. " Each competitor is allowed three jumps, 
his best jump being taken as his record. 

* Publishers of The Playground, a recreation magazine. 
107 



THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY 

3. 60 Yards Dash, 100 Yards Dash and 220 Yards Run 
A stop-watch is necessary for timing the boys in this event. Under the 
direction of a starter each individual competitor takes his position on the 
starting mark. The starter gives the signal by saying: "On the mark," 
"Get set," "Go." At the word "Go" the timekeeper starts his watch. 
As the runner crosses the finish Une (60 yards, 100 yards, or 220 yards from 
the starting line), the timekeeper stops his watch. The time indicated on 
the stop-watch is the runner's time. 

4. Running High Jump 

The bar shall be a thin stick and shall rest on pins which shall project not 
more than three inches from the uprights. When this bar is removed, it 
shall constitute a trial jump without result. 

The height shall be measured from the middle of the bar to the ground on 
a direct line. 

Each boy shall be allowed three trial jumps at each height. 

Running under the bar in making an attempt to jump shall be counted 
as a balk and three successive balks shall constitute a trial jump. 

A plan to avoid specialization and selection, and to secure the 
participation of all boys in athletic activity, is known as "Group 
Athletics." It is described below. 

The entire membership of the group should be required to take part, 
physical incapacitation being the only valid excuse for non-participation. 
No record should be allowed for less than 80 per cent of the group member- 
ship. The full benefits of group athletics come, not alone from the final 
competition, but also from the great amount of preliminary practice within 
the group. In this way the physical fitness of the individual is developed 
and the spirit of team work and social responsibility is fostered. It should 
be arranged that the competition be between groups of about the same 
physical ability. It should also be remembered that the number of boys in 
the group makes no difference as 

The sum of individual records ^, 

r^^ r 7 7TT = The group record. 

The number of competitors 

A trophy in the form of a pennant, plaque, or cup awarded to the winning 
group adds interest to this form of athletics and stimulates group spirit. 
This trophy should be held only until the next competition. 

The competition may be in one or more events. An all-around test 
should be the aim. Almost all forms of track and field athletics lend them- 

108 



RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD 

selves easily to this plan. The following events have been quite generally' 
used: 

I. Jumping (Standing or running, broad or high) 
II. Chinning (Pull up on horizontal bar) 
III. Running (Short dashes, 40 to 100 yards) 

I. Jumping, It is best to prepare a jumping pit by digging up a piece of 
ground about 4 feet x 25 feet having a wooden strip about 2 inches x 4 inches 
X 3 feet embedded in the ground at one end of the pit flush with the surface 
to serve as a take-off. Where this is impossible use a mat and jump from a 
line. 

The group is lined up behind the take-off and each boy in turn takes his 




Group Jumping 



jump. The distance from the edge of the take-off to the first mark made 
in the dirt by any part of the body is measured as the boy's jump. 

Each boy has three jumps, his best jump being taken as his record. 
After each boy has had three jumps, the sum of all the records is divided by 
the number of competitors. The quotient obtained is the group record. 

II. Chinning. A portable chinning bar may be placed in the doorway, 
as shown on next page, a horizontal bar in the gymnasium, or the rungs of 
a ladder set at an angle against a wall may be used for this purpose. The 
inclined ladder is advantageous in accommodating boys of different heights. 

The boys are lined up and take their turn at chinning the same as in 
jumping except that only one trial is given each boy. Beginning with the 
arms straightened at full length the boy pulls himself up until his chin is 
above the level of the bar. Then lowering himself again until his arms are 

109 



THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY 



Straight he repeats the pull-up. The number of times he is able to bring his 
chin above the level of the bar is his record. The total of the individual 
records divided by the number in the group gives the group record. 




Group Chinning 




Group Running 



III. Running. It is not always possible to have a stop-watch for tim- 
ing the boys in the group running. A plan has therefore been devised 
whereby the timing may be done with an ordinary watch. The boys are 
lined up back of the starting mark and the timer takes his position at the 
finish line. This finish line should be a mark on the ground. The first 
boy to run takes his place on the starting mark, the timer waits until the 
second hand of his watch points to sixty, then instantly by a quick down- 

IIO 



RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD 

ward motion of the hand, signals the boy to start. As the runner nears the 
finish line the timer again raises his hand, and at the instant the runner 
crosses the finish mark he gives the signal for the next boy to start. This is 
repeated until the whole group has run. The time elapsed during the 
running of the entire group is divided by the number of boys taking part, 
thus giving the group record. 

Other events that have been used successfully are : 

A. The football kick. Either the round soccer or the oval football may 
be used. Care should be taken, however, to see that all competing groups 
use the same kind of ball. The ball may be punted or kicked from place. 
The distance from where the ball was kicked to the point where it first 
touched the ground is the boy's record. The group record is determined as 
indicated in the events described above. 

B. The baseball throw. This event is similar to the above except that 
a baseball is thrown. 

C. The shot-put. The same rules govern this event as in the ordinar}' 
field event. Too heavy shots should be avoided. The eight-pound shot 
for grammar school boys and the twelve-pound shot for high school boys 
are recommended. 

D. The relay potato race. On a line at right angles to the starting line 
draw four circles each 12 inches in diameter, the first with its center five 
yards from the start and the others at five-yard intervals beyond, the fourth 
being at 20 yards. 

A box, can, or basket with not over 144 square inches bottom area is set 
on the five-yard circle. Three potatoes, blocks, or erasers are placed in this 
receptacle. 

The first runner, starting from the hne, takes a potato from the box and 
places it in the nearest, or lo-yard circle, returns to the box, passing be- 
tween it and the starting Hne, places a second- potato on the 15-yard circle 
and in the same manner places the third on the 20-yard circle. He then 
runs back to the starting line, so that one foot passes or touches the Hne, 
runs to the nearest potato and replaces it in the box, and so for the second 
and third potatoes, each time passing between the basket and starting line 
after replacing a potato except that after the third he runs back to the start 
and touches ofif the next member of the group, who must stand with both 
feet back of the Hne until touched. 

Each successive runner places and replaces the potatoes and touches ofif 
his successor as indicated. The total time elapsing from the "Go" until 
the last runner finishes, divided by the number of runners, gives the group 

III 



THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY 

record. If a potato is dropped anywhere but in the basket or circles where 
it is due, it must be picked up and properly placed before another potato 
is touched. Leaders should use a whistle to call the attention of a runner 
to any such error made. If a runner starts before the " Go, " or before he is 
properly touched off by his predecessor, the timer will add one second or 
more, at his discretion, to the total group time for every such false start. 

If for any reason it is found that 140 yards is too great a distance to be 
run at one time, the first boy, after placing out the potatoes as provided 
above, shall run back to the starting Hne and touch off the second runner 
who shall collect the potatoes as previously described and touch off the 
third runner who repeats the part of the first runner. In the meantime the 
first runner takes his place at the end of the hne of boys and when his turn 
comes again, runs the second time. In this way each boy runs two laps 
of 70 yards each with a short rest between. 

Any other athletic activity that is adaptable to the plan outlined above 
may be used. 

Topic C. Public Schools Athletic League for Girls 
The Girls' Branch of the Public Schools Athletic League of 
New York City issues a handbook of its work in which the plan 
of organization and procedure is described. The following 
quotations indicate the careful manner in which the matter is 
handled and the progress that is being made in solving the 
problem of suitable athletic activities for girls. 

The problems involved in girls' athletics were much more difficult than 
those in boys' athletics, the athletics of boys and men being established 
through a long history of evolution, while girls' athletics was a new sub- 
ject, which if necessary had to be largely experimental. 

The fundamental policies adopted by the Girls' Branch were and are : 
Athletics for all the girls. 

Athletics within the school and no inter-school competition. 
Athletic events in which teams (not individual girls) compete. 
Athletics chosen and practiced with regard to their suitability for girls 
and not merely an imitation of boys' athletics. 

The Girls' Branch of the PubUc Schools Athletic League encourages 
after-school athletics for girls by: 

1. Offering pins and trophies for certain events. 

2. Conducting free instruction classes in those events for grade teachers 
who volunteer their services for the after-school athletics. 

112 



RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD 

3. Assisting to organize athletic clubs. 

4. Supplying instructors, coaches and assistants where the board of ed- 
ucation is unable to do so. 

5. Trying to secure enlarged facilities for outdoor exercise for girls. 

The Girls' Branch is doing everything in its power to further the use of 
folk dancing as a form of play for the benefit and pleasure of the children 
themselves, and is opposed to its use for exhibition purposes. The park 
fetes are arranged as great play days, with the children in great numbers 
from many schools, dotted in groups over the great meadows of 15 acres 
or more, which are roped off and kept clear for the children only. In 
this way the individual children are lost to view in the great throng, and 
the exhibition element is ehminated, while at the same time the sight of 
acres of happy girls, all dancing at the same time, is a more stirring and 
beautiful one than can be easily described. 

If we are ever to really have athletics for girls generally we must settle 
at least the following points : 

1. What exercises are Hkely to be injurious internally to matured girls? 

2. What exercises are mechanically suited to the build of the average 
girl? 

3. What are suited to her muscular strength and endurance? 

4. What will contribute to her health and vitaUty and help to fit her for a 
normal woman's Hfe? 

5. What form of physical activity comes nearest to containing for her 
the primitive appeal that athletics in the accepted sense hold for boys? 

Wide inquiry among those who have had extensive experience 
with physical training for girls shows that athletic activities for 
girls fall into the following groups: 

For mature girls For immature girls 

1. Condemned i. Condemned 

Broad jump Pole vaulting 

High jump (in competition) Running more than 100 

Pole vaulting yards 

2. Doubtful W^^^^^ ^h^°^^"^ 

High jump 2. Doubtful 
Running more than 100 Basketball 

yards (in competition) Field hockey 

Weight throwing g^^^ 

3. Safe Archery 

Archery Ball throwing 

Ball throwing Broad and high jump (not 

Basketball (women's rules) in competition) 

Climbing Climbing 

8 113 



THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY 



For mature girls 






For immature girls 


Safe — (Continued) 






3. Safe — (Continued) 


Coasting 






Dancing 


Dancing 






Horseback riding (cross saddle) 


Field hockey 






Low hurdles 


Golf 






Paddling 


Horseback riding ( 


cross and 


Rowing 


side saddle) 






Running (not in intense 


Indoor baseball 






competition) 


Low hurdles (not i 


n compe- 


Skating 


tition) 






Swimming 


Paddling 






Tennis 


Rowing 






Walking 


Running (not in 
tion) 


competi- 


4. Especially beneficial and suit- 


Skating 






able 


Skiing 






Chmbing 


Snow-shoeing 






Dancing 


Swimming 






Jumping (in moderation) 


Tennis 






Running (in moderation) 


Walking 






Skating 


Especially beneficial 
able 


and 


suit- 


Swimming 
Walking 


Dancing 






5. Best loved, most commonly 


Paddling 






practiced and with great- 


Rowing 






est primitive appeal 


Running 






Dancing (greatest unanim- 


Swimming 






ity of opinion in this an- 


Walking 






swer) 



The Athletic Badge Test for girls has also been worked out 
and, after successful experiment, has been adopted by the Play- 
ground and Recreation Association of America. Badges, in the 
form of brooches, have been prepared. 

First Test 

All-up Indian [Club Race 30 seconds 

Basketball Throwing 2 goals, 6 trials 

Balancing 24 feet, 2 trials 

Second Test 

All-up Indian [Club Race 28 seconds 

Basketball Throwing 3 goals, 6 trials 

Balancing (bean-bag on head) 24 feet, 2 trials 



When Indian clubs are not available, the potato race may be substituted: 
For first test, 140 yards, 42 seconds. 
For second test, 140 yards, 39 seconds. 
The following general rules shall govern the final tests: 
There shall be but one trial in each event except the balancing, in which 
two trials are allowed. 

114 



RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD 

It is necessary to qualify in all three events in either class in order to win a 
badge. 

No girl is permitted to receive more than one badge in any one year. 

Directions for Events 
I. All-up Indian Club Race 

Draw two tangent circles, each 3 feet in diameter. In one of the cir- 
cles place three one-pound Model BS Indian clubs. At a point 30 feet 
distant from a line passed through the center of the circles, and parallel to 
it, draw a line to be used as a starting line. 

On the signal the girl runs from the starting Hne, transfers the three 
clubs, one after the other, to the vacant circle, and runs back to the starting 
line. Three such trips are made, finishing at the starting point. The girl 
is permitted to use but one hand in transferring the clubs. 

To win a Class "A" badge a girl must make the three trips to the circles 
in 30 seconds. 

To win a Class "B " badge a girl must make the three trips to the circles 
in 28 seconds. 

2. Basketball Throwing 

The regular basketball goal may be used. It should be placed 10 feet 
above the ground and extend 6 inches from the surface to which it is at- 
tached. 

From a point directly under the center of the goal draw a semi-circle with 
a radius of 15 feet, for a throwing Hne. 

The girl may stand at any point outside of but touching the throwing Hne. 

To win a Class "A" badge a girl must make two goals in six trials. 

To win a Class "B " badge a girl must make three goals in six trials. 

3. Balancing 

Any standard balance beam may be used, or a 2 x 4 inch plank, set on two- 
inch side, but the length should be 12 feet. 

There is no time Hmit in this event but there should be an endeavor to 
meet the requirements promptly, without haste, and with perfect poise. 

For Class "A": The girl starts from the center of the beam, walks for- 
ward to the end, without turning, walks backward to center; turns and 
walks forward to other end, turns and walks forward to starting point. 

For Class "B": With a bean bag balanced on her head, the girl starts 
from center of beam and walks forward to end; turns and walks forward 
the entire length of the balance beam; without turning, walks backward 
to starting point. 

115 



THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY 

4. Potato Race 

On a direct line draw four circles, each 1 2 inches in diameter and 5 yards 
apart from center to center. Five yards back of the center of the first 
circle and at right angles to the direct line, draw a line to be used as a start- 
ing Hne. This is also the finish line. 

On the first circle place a basket or other receptacle not over 2 feet in 
height and with an opening not exceeding 3 feet in circumference. 

On the signal the girl runs from the starting line, takes one potato from 
the basket and places it in the first vacant circle (the one nearest the basket) ; 
runs back to the basket, passes between it and the starting Hne, takes the 
second potato from the basket and places it in the second circle; returns to 
the basket, passes between it and the starting line, takes the third potato 
from the basket, places it in the third circle and runs back to the starting 
line. From the starting point she runs to the first circle, picks up the po- 
tato and replaces it in the basket, passes between the basket and the start- 
ing line, runs to the second circle, picks up the potato, replaces it in the 
basket, runs to the third circle, picks up the potato, replaces it in the basket, 
and runs across the finish line. 

If a potato is dropped anywhere but in the circle where it should be placed 
or in the basket, it must be picked up and properly placed before another is 
touched. 

To win a Class ''A" badge a girl must cross the finish line within 42 
seconds from the time the signal to start is given. 

To win a Class "B" badge a girl must cross the finish line within 39 
seconds from the time the signal to start is given. 

"Group Athletics" for girls have been developed on the 
following plan: 

Competition may be between classes, clubs, or any other convenient 
groups. Care should be taken that the groups are of about the same 
physical abihty. It is important that all members of the group actually 
take part in the games. No record should be allowed for less than 80 per 
cent of the group membership. Physical disabihty should be the only 
valid excuse for non-participation. 

The record or score is always a group record, and in competition the 
winners are determined by comparing the final group records and not the 
individual performances. 

The sum of the individual records ^, , 

;^:^ r 7 7^7 = The group record. 

The number of competitors 

The size of the group therefore makes no difference because the record is 

116 



RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD 

always an average. In events where the individual records are easily de- 
termined the group record can readily be found by the above formula. But 
in running games it is difificult to find the individual records without the 
use of a stop-watch. A plan has therefore been devised whereby the tim- 
ing may be done with an ordinary watch. The girls are lined up back of 
the starting line. The timer takes her position near the finish Hne which 
should be a mark on the ground. The signal *'go" is given by the timer 
when the second hand of her watch is on sixty. As the runner crosses the 
finish Hne, the starter, by a quick downward motion of the hand, signals the 
succeeding runner to start. (In the Shuttle Relay each succeeding mem- 
ber of the group is touched off by the preceding runner.) When the last 
girl has crossed the finish line the time elapsed is noted. The timer needs 




Basketball Throw 



to keep only the time required by the entire group to finish the event. This 
is divided by the number participating to give the group record. 

Any game or athletic event adaptable to this plan as outlined above may 
be used. The following are suggested as typical but they in no way limit 
the possibiHties of group athletics. 

I. Basketball Throw. An ordinary basket ball is used in this event. 
The girls shall throw in rapid succession, each girl having three trials, and 
her best throw is taken as her record. If the ball strikes some obstacle be- 
fore touching the ground, another trial shall be allowed. A six-foot circle, 
with a heavy line across its center, shall be drawn at one end of the throwing 
space. The thrower toes this line and in completing her throw shall not 
fall or step forward out of the circle: if she does, her throw shall not count 
except that it shall be considered as one of the three trials allowed. The 

117 



THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY 

throw shall be measured from the first point where the ball touched the 
ground to the nearest point of the circle. The group record is found by- 
dividing the total of the individual records by the number participating. 

II. All- Up Relay. The group shall Hne up in single file back of the 
starting line. At a distance of 20 yards from the starting line there shall be 
two circles, 3 feet in diameter, side by side, and tangent to each other. In 
one of these shall stand three Indian clubs. (Bottles of the right shape or 
hght weight bowling pins may also be used.) The start shall be made by one 
of the group, who shall run forward and using one hand only shall transfer 
the clubs one at a time to the other circle. When this is done she shall call 
"All-Up" and running back touch off the girl standing first in the line. 




All-Up Relay 



Should a club fall after a player has transferred it, she shall return and set 
it up again before touching off the next runner. The player who has just 
run, having completed her part of the race, shall leave the running space 
and not line up again with the runners. This play shall be repeated by each 
girl in the group until all have run. The last girl shall finish in a dash over 
the line. The time elapsed divided by the number taking part is the group 
record. 

III. Shuttle Relay. In the Shuttle Relay the group shall be divided as 
nearly as possible into two equal sections. Each section shall line up back 
of the starting lines which shall be at opposite ends of the running space. 
The running space should be 40 yards. At the signal "go" the girl stand- 
ing at the head of one line shall run forward and touch off the girl at the 
head of the opposite line, who shall run forward to the first line and touch 

118 



RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD 

off the next runner, the game proceeding in this manner until all the girls 
have run. The last runner shall dash forward over the finish line. Each 
girl after touching off the next one shall have finished her part of the race, 
and shall quickly leave the running space and stay out of the way of the 
remaining runners. She shall not line up again with the runners. The 
time elapsed divided by the total number in the group is the record. 




Shuttle Relay 




Folk Dancing 



IV. Folk Dancing. Although folk dancing is unlike the games mentioned 
above it is such good exercise and such a pleasant recreation that it is used 
in group competition. Any teacher or group leader can, with care and 

119 



THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY 

patience, teach the simpler folk dances to the girls by the use of a good folk 
dance book in which the steps are described. Music can be furnished by a 
victrola or phonograph. Special records have been made of the folk dance 
music. A board of judges decides the winners. The dancing is judged, for 
the group as a unit, on the following basis: 

Memory 25 points 

Grace 25 points 

Spirit 25 points 

General effect 25 points 

Total 100 points 

The play element in folk dancing should be emphasized as much as possible. 

V. Hoop Race. The group is lined up 5 yards back of the starting line. 
At a distance of 20 yards from the starting line an Indian club shall be placed. 
At the signal "go" the first girl shall start rolling the hoop toward the 
Indian club. She must roll the hoop around the Indian club and back to 
the starting line which thus becomes also the finishing line. If the runner 
knocks over the Indian club, she must replace it before proceeding further. 
Upon crossing the finish line she shall pass the hoop to the next girl, who re- 
peats the process. The succeeding runner shall not start until the pre- 
ceding runner has crossed the line. The hoop must at all times be rolled, 
not carried in the hand. The last runner completes the race when she has 
crossed the finish line with the hoop. The time elapsed from the signal 
"go " until the last girl crosses the finish Une, divided by the number of parti- 
cipants, gives the group record. 

Topic D. Municipal Athletic League 
Boston has a Municipal Athletic Association. An organiza- 
tion similar in its purpose is the Public Athletic League of Balti- 
more. The secretaries of these organizations will send, on re- 
quest, information about the plan and scope of the organizations. 
The activities of the Boston association are stated as follows : 

Baseball league 

City athletic meets 

Park walks 

Cross-country hikes 

All-round efficiency tests 

Summer games 

Swimming 

Tennis 

Hand ball 

Gymnastic demonstrations 

Winter games 

Skating and ice sports 

120 



RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD 



Topic E. Boy Scouts and Camp Fire Girls 

The national headquarters of each of these organizations will 
furnish, on request, the necessary information on organization 
and administration. Address Boy Scouts of America, 200 Fifth 
Avenue, New York City; Camp Fire Girls, 461 Fourth Avenue, 
New York City. 



Topic F. City Committee on Recreation 

San Francisco has a recreation league that is of the general 
type suggested for Springfield. The following, quoted from its 
annual report for 1913, describes briefly the plan and purpose of 
the league : 

Composed of over seventy-five commercial, civic and philanthropic men 
and women's organizations, the Recreation League has represented the 
public conscience in all constructive matters of recreation and play. It has 
been instrumental in starting many movements for bettering the civic and 
social conditions in the community. It has multiplied recreational op- 
portunities for young and old in all parts of the city. 

Eight hours a day for wholesome recreation is now to be a slogan as 
loudly voiced by the whole people as was the cry for the eight-hour working 
day. 

The League is ready and eager to do all it can to help the people toward 
healthy sport and clean diversion during their leisure hours. The League 
charges the city, state and nation to awaken to the reaHzation that, to elim- 
inate evils in the body social and politic, the government must direct, con- 
trol and offer constructive recreation for all the people's leisure time. 

We promote 

1. Social centers — the wider use of the school plant. 

2. Parks, many of them, and where they are most needed. 

3. Playgrounds, well equipped and sufficient. 

4. WeU-ordered and safe dance halls, 

5. Mass athletics for all the boys and girls. 

6. Artistic recreation places, 

7. Popular-priced concerts for all the people, 

8. Municipal bathing beaches, 

9. Summer camps for working boys, 
10, Athletics for young men, 

121 



the springfield survey 

Topic G. Model Ordinances 
Dance Halls 

Section i. The term ''public dance" or "public ball," as used in this 
ordinance, shall be taken to mean any dance or ball to which admission can 
be had by payment of a fee or by the purchase, possession or presentation of 
a ticket or token or in which a charge is made for caring for clothing or other 
property or any other dance to which the public generally may gain admis- 
sion with or without the payment of a fee. The term "public dance hall" 
as used herein shall be taken to mean any room, place or space in which a 
public dance or public ball shall be held, or hall or academy in which classes 
in dancing are held and instructions in dancing are given for hire. 

Section 2. It shall be unlawful on and after to hold any 

public dance or public ball or to hold classes in dancing or to give instruc- 
tion in dancing for hire in any hall or academy within the limits of the city of 

until the dance hall in which the same may be 

held shall first have been duly Hcensed for such purpose. The license shall 
be issued by the clerk of the city council and the fee therefor shall be paid 
at the time of the issuing of the license and shall be graded as follows : 

If the dance hall has a floor space not exceeding 2,500 square feet, the 
annual license fee shall be fifteen dollars. 

If the dance haU has a floor space exceeding 2,500 square feet, but not ex- 
ceeding 5,000 square feet, the annual license fee shall be twenty-five dollars. 

If the dance hall has a floor space exceeding 5,000 square feet, but not 
exceeding 6,500 square feet, the annual license fee shall be thirty dollars. 

If the dance hall has a space exceeding 6,500 square feet, the annual li- 
cense fee shall be fifty dollars. 

In computing floor space only that part of the floor actually used for 
dancing shall be considered. Each license granted hereunder shall expire 
QYi . of each year. All moneys received by way of li- 
cense fees shall be paid into the general fund of the city and every dance 
hall shall post its Ucense in a conspicuous place within the hall where the 
dance is held. 

Section 3. No license for public dance hall shall be issued until it shall 
be found that such hall complies with and conforms to all ordinances, health 
and fire regulations of the city, that it is properly ventilated and supplied 
with suflicient toilet conveniences and is a safe and proper place for the 
purpose for which it is to be used. 

Section 4. The Hcense of any public dance haU may be forfeited or re- 
voked by the mayor for disorderly or immoral conduct on the premises, or 
for the violation of any of the rules, regulations, ordinances and laws govern- 

122 



RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD 

ing or applying to public dance halls or public dances. If at any time the 
license of a pubHc dance hall shall be forfeited or revoked at least six (6) 
months shall elapse before another license or permit shall be given for danc- 
ing on the same premises. 

Section 5. It shall be unlawful for any person, persons, society, club or 
corporation to hold a pubhc dance or pubHc ball within the limits of the city 

of without having first obtained a permit therefor from 

the mayor. 

Section 6. All public dance halls shall be kept at all times in a clean, 
healthful and sanitary condition, and all stairways and other passages and 
all rooms connected with a dance hall shall be kept open and well Hghted. 
The chief of police, a captain, a Heutenant, a sergeant of poHce, a patrolman 
or inspector of dance halls, shall have the power, and it shall be their duty 
to cause the place, hall or room where any dance or ball is held or given 
to be vacated whenever any provision of any ordinance with regard to 
public dances and public balls is being violated, or whenever any indecent 
act shall be committed, or when any disorder of a gross, violent or vulgar 
character shall take place therein. 

Section 7. All public dances shall be discontinued and all public dance 
halls shall be closed on or before the hour of 12:30 o'clock a. m., provided, 
however, that upon the application of a bona fide and responsible organiza- 
tion or society and upon an investigation by the dance hall inspector the 
mayor may grant such organization or society a permit to continue a dance 
until 2 o'clock a. m,, no ticket shall be sold or accepted for admission after 
the hour of 12 o'clock midnight. 

Section 8. It shall be unlawful after 9 o'clock p. m., to permit any per- 
son to attend or take part in any public dances who has not reached the 
age of eighteen (18) years, unless such person be in company with a parent 
or natural guardian. It shall be unlawful for any person to represent him- 
self or herself to have reached the age of eighteen (18) years in order to ob- 
tain admission to a public dance hall or to be permitted to remain therein 
when such person in fact is under eighteen (18) years of age, and it shall also 
be unlawful for any person to represent himself or herself to be a parent or 
natural guardian of any person in order that such person may obtain ad- 
mission to a public dance hall or shall be permitted to remain therein when 
the party making representation is not in fact either a parent or natural 
guardian of the other person. 

Section 9. The mayor shall appoint an inspector of dance halls, whose 
duty it shall be to examine all appHcations for dance hall licenses, and who 
shall investigate each application to determine whether or not the dance 
hall sought to be licensed complies with the regulations, ordinances and 

123 



THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY 

laws applicable thereto, and in making of such investigation shall, when de- 
sired, have the assistance of the building inspector, the board of health and 
the chief of the fire department. Such inspector shall furnish to the clerk 
of the city council in writing the information derived from such investiga- 
tion, accompanied by a recommendation as to whether a Hcense should 
be granted or refused. Such inspector shall be permitted to have access 
to all pubHc dance halls at all times. He shall investigate complaints and 
shall inspect at intervals the dance halls within the city and shall report all 
violations in writing. No hcense shall be renewed except after reinspection 
of the premises as provided herein. 

Section io. Any person, persons, society, club or corporation who shall 
violate the provisions of this ordinance or of any ordinance with reference 
to public dances or pubHc balls shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined not 
less than twenty-five dollars ($25.00), and the cost of prosecution, and not 
more than fifty dollars ($50.00), and the cost of prosecution for each and 
every offense, and on default of payment thereof such person shall be im- 
prisoned for a period not exceeding thirty (30) days. 

Section ii. The person, persons, society, club or corporation desiring 
a permit to hold a public dance or a public ball shall use the following form 
of apphcation, a copy of which shall be secured from the mayor: 

, 19.... 

The Mayor 

Sir: The undersigned, on behalf of 

hereby makes apphcation for a permit to give a pubhc dance at 

No Street, on 19 It is 

hereby expressly agreed that said dance shall be conducted in strict 
order with the provisions of law regulating public dances and pubHc 
balls, and the undersigned agrees that the permit is given and ac- 
cepted subject to the provisions of this application, and that he shall be 
held responsible for any violation of any provision of law or ordinance 
regulating such public dance. The owner or lessee of the premises in 

which such dance is to be held is address No 

Street (Avenue), Name Occupation 

Address 

Section 12. The provisions of this ordinance shall in no way interfere 
with private parties given at homes of people or with dances given by so- 
cieties or corporations where the attendance is restricted to the members of 
the society, club or corporation. 



Motion-Picture Theaters 
Section i. A motion picture shall be deemed a display of a series of 
pictures so arranged as to depict characters or objects in motion. 

Section 2. A motion-picture theater shall be deemed any public hall, 

124 



RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD 

room, or open space in the city of , in which pictures are 

exhibited and to which an admission fee is charged. 

Section 3. No vaudeville or theatrical exhibition shall be allowed in 
conjunction, or on the same program, with a motion-picture performance. 

Section 4. A license for a motion-picture theater may be granted by the 

* on 

payment of a license fee of provided that 

the applicant has complied with Sections 5 and 6 of this act. If in the judg- 
ment of the Hcensing authority, any of the provisions of this act are vio- 
lated, or pictures are shown that are an offense against morahty, decency, 
or the pubhc welfare, the license may be revoked. 

Section 5. A motion-picture theater license may be granted only after 
the proper authorities have inspected the proposed theater and reported 
that it meets all the requirements of Section 6. 

Section 6. Motion-picture theaters shall fulfill the following require- 
ments: 

a. The apparatus for projecting motion pictures shall be enclosed 
in a booth or enclosure so constructed as to be fireproof. 

b. The aisles, exits, seating, and construction of the building shall 
conform with the fire and building regulations of the city of ■ 



c. Every portion of a motion-picture theater shall be so lighted by 
electric light during all exhibitions and until the entire audience has 
left the premises that a person with normal eyesight should be able to 
read the Snellen standard test type 40 at a distance of 20 feet, and type 
30 at a distance of 10 feet; normal eyesight meaning the abiHty to 
read type 20 at a distance of 20 feet in daylight. Cards showing types 
20, 30, and 40 shall be displayed on the side walls together with a copy 
of this paragraph. 

d. Special segregated seats shall be provided for and used by all un- 
accompanied children in attendance under sixteen years of age. 

e. The minimum floor area of motion-picture theaters, exclusive of 
aisles and passageways, shall be 45^ square feet per person, and a mini- 
mum of 80 cubic feet of air space per person shall be provided. During 
the performance at least 500 cubic feet of fresh air per person per 
hour shall be suppHed. 

f. The temperature at the breathing line of the audience shall not 
exceed 70 degrees Fahrenheit nor be less than 62 degrees F., except when 
the outside temperature is sufficiently high not to require the heating 
of the air supply. 

* Either the Mayor or the Bureau of Licenses. 
125 



THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY 

Section 7, The licensing authority shall appoint such inspectors as are 
necessary to carry out the provisions of this act. Such inspectors shall also 
examine the character of the exhibitions and report any offense against 
morality, decency, or the public welfare contained in said exhibitions. 

Section 8. This ordinance shall not apply to motion-picture exhibitions 
with or without charge for admission, conducted under the direct manage- 
ment of educational or rehgious institutions, or to those given or held not 
more than once a week in private residences or bona fide social, scientific, 
political or athletic clubs. Before motion pictures shall be exhibited in any 

of the places above mentioned, there shall be obtained from the 

a permit for such exhibition. Before granting such 



permit the shall cause to be inspected the 

premises where such proposed exhibition will be held, and shall grant the 
permit if in its judgment the safety of the pubhc be properly guarded, and 
provided that for an audience of more than 75 people all chairs or seats shall 
be securely fastened to the floor or fastened together in rows. 

Section 9. The shall appoint a citizens' committee 

of — ■ members, who shall serve without compensation, and whose duty 

it shall be to inspect each motion-picture theater of the city at least once 
each month and report to the licensing authority any violations of the pro- 
visions of this act. 

Section 10. This ordinance shall take effect thirty days after its ap- 
proval by the Mayor. All other rules, regulations, and ordinances incon- 
sistent herewith and affecting buildings and places to be occupied as herein 
defined are hereby revoked. 



126 



INDEX 



INDEX 



Adventure: boys' impulse for, 12-18; 
home and school life do not provide, 
16; supplied by Boy Scout acti- 
vities, 17, 20. See also Boy Scouts 



Athletics {continued) 

tablishmentSjQi; suitable for gram- 
mar school boys, 106; track, 93; 
value of, to city life, 89-93 



Amateur Theatricals: 
84-85 



Amusements: commercial, 80-88, 97, 
loi; duty of society to guard, 10, 
12; municipal, 11-12; of Spring- 
field high school students, 39-42; 
public, temptations surrounding, 3, 
7, 11; reported by 134 boys, 16- 
17; reported by 2,275 grammar 
school children, 23-26; "Safety 
First" principle applied to, 10 

Arion Dance Hall: admission and 
attendance, 85-86. See also Dance 
Halls 



benefits of, Aut)ITORIUMS. See Assembly Rooms 



Art, Community: 

22 



and recreation, 21- 



AssEMBLY Rooms, 38, 39, 43, 98 

Athletic Associations, 55. See also 
Athletic Leagues; Municipal 

Athletic Badge Test: for boys, 100, 
106-108; for girls, 114-116 

Athletic Courtesy, 106 

Athletic Fields: importance of pro- 
viding, 59, 91-92, 97, 98, 99; op- 
portunity for, in Springfield parks, 
65 

Athletic Leagues: Baltimore, 120; 
Boston, 120; municipal, 89, 100, 
120; pubhc schools, 105, 112-113; 
Sunday School, 79 

Athletics: developing high standards 
a function of, 8-9; field, 93; for 
Athletic Badge Test, 107; for 
girls, 59, 77, 113-114; group, 108- 
112; in Springfield industrial es- 



Baltimore, Md.: Public Athletic 
League, 120 

Billiard and Pool Rooms: and the 
saloon, 7, 10; licenses of, 87 

Billiards: attractions of, 7, 12; temp- 
tations surrounding, 7, lo-ii 

Board of Education: co-operation 
with park board urged, 65, 98; 
opportunities of, in recreation 
field, 32, S3, 37 

Boston, Massachusetts: director of 
public celebrations in, 96; Munici- 
pal Athletic Association, 120 

Boy Scouts: meet vital needs of boy 
life, 17-18; organization, 100, 121 



Camp Fire Girls, 18, 77; 
tion, 100, 121 



organiza- 



Celebrations, Public. See Holidays 

Chatterton Theater: nature of 
programs, 82-83 

Chicago, Illinois: social use of 
schools, 30 

Churches: and recreation, 77-79, 97 

City Committees: on celebrations, 96, 
100; on recreation, loi, 121 

City Life: lacks elements craved by 
youth, 12-20; value of athletics 
to, 89-93 



129 



INDEX 



City Ordinances. See Ordinances 

Clubs: meeting places for, 36, 68; 
semi-public organizations, 73-75, 
97. See also Institutions, Semi- 
public; Organir.ations, Private 

Community Art and Recreation, 21- 

22 

Crook, Dr. A. R. : curator Museum of 
Natural History, 70 



Dance Halls: dangers in, 11; model 
ordinance for, 122-124; number 
and character, 85. See also Arion 
Dance Hall 

Dances: club, 86; young people's, 42 

Dancing: among high school students, 
40, 41-42; in school houses, 12; 
temptations surrounding, 86-87 

Dime Novels: foster boys' craving for 
adventure, 13, 15-16 

Director or Physical Training and 
Play. See Supervisor 

Drama League, National, 84 



Environment: community responsible 
for improving, 20; importance of 
good, 7-8 

Equipment, Recreation: in new high 
school, 42-43; of school play- 
grounds, 50; of social centers, 37- 
39, 99 

Events, Athletic: description of , 107- 



Festivals, 93-96 

Field Athletics. See Athletics 

Field Houses, 21, 62 

Folk Dancing, 22 

Fraternal Organizations. See Or- 
ganizations 



Games: teaching of, 26-28, 98 



Girls: athletics for, 59, 77, 11 2-1 20. 
See also Public Schools Athletic 
League for Girls 

Grand Rapids, Michigan: co-opera- 
tion between schools and library, 69 

Gymnasiums, 9, 21, 39, 43, 55, 77, 99 



Hand, Dr. Earl H.: appointed super- 
visor of physical training, athletics, 
and play in Springfield, 59 

High School, Springfield: amuse- 
ments of students, 39-42; athletic 
association in, 55; equipment for 
social center work, 42-43 

Historical Library, State, 70 

Holidays, Public: celebration of, 96; 
committee on, proposed, 100; direc- 
tor of, in Boston, Mass., 96 

Homes: important factor in recreation, 
23-29. See also Recreation 



Immorality: causes of, 6, 7, lo-ii; 
drunkenness and, 7; environment 
as a factor, 7-10; fostered in public 
amusement places, 11, 82 

Industrial Establishments: sup- 
porting athletics in Springfield, 91 

Industries and Occupations in 
Springfield, 3-4 

Inspection: of motion-picture thea- 
ters, 80 

Institutions, Semi-public, 73-79, 97 

Iowa High Schools: amusements of 
students in four cities, 40, 41 



Langdon, William Chauncy: pageant 
director, 96 

Lawrence School, Springfield: li- 
brary in, 36 

Leagues. See Athletic Leagues; Muni- 
cipal 

Lectures: State Museum of Natural 
History, 70 



130 



INDEX 



Legislation: against prize fights, 74- 
75; for social use of school build- 
ings, 32 

Leland Hotel: dances at, 85 

Library: co-operation with schools, 
36, 68-69; extension work, 69; 
State Historical, 70 

Licenses: dance hall, 85, 86; of billiard 
and pool rooms, 87; of motion- 
picture theaters, 80; of saloons, 87- 
. 88 

Lotteries: forbidden by Springfield 
city code, 83 

Louisville, Kentucky: work of 
neighborhood associations in, ^^ 



Medals: presentation of, not desirable, 
100 

Milwaukee, Wisconsin: provision 
for amusements in schools, 12 

Ministers' Association, 78 

"Morality Purchasable," 20 

Motion-picture Shows: attendance 
of grammar school children at, 
24-26, 81; attendance of high 
school students at, 40-41; in 
schools, 36; injuriousness of, 81 

Motion-picture Theaters: licenses 
of, 80; model ordinance for, 124- 
126; number and capacity, 80-81 

Municipal Amusements: importance 
of providing, 11-12 

Municipal Athletic Leagues, 100, 
120 

Museum of Natural History, State, 
70-72; a recreation resource, 70; 
opportunity for schools, 70-71 



National Board of Censorship, 80, 
81 

Neighborhood Associations : and 
library extension, 69; suggestions 
for, 33-36; work of, in Louisville, 
Kentucky, 33; work of, in New 
York City, 33 



Newspapers: cases reported in, 5-6, 
II, 12-13 

New York City: social use of schools, 
30, 33 



Occupations and Industries in 
Springfield, 3-4 

Ordinances, City: concerning mo- 
tion-picture shows, 80; forbid lot- 
teries, 83-84; none governing dance 
halls, 86, 87 

Ordinances, Model: for dance halls, 
122-124; for motion-picture thea- 
ters, 124-126 

Organizations, Fraternal and Pri- 
vate: value of, in city Ufe, 73 



Pageants: and community art, 22; 
meaning and objects of, 93-96; 
suggested for Springfield, 96 

Parents: responsibility of, for provid- 
ing recreation, 28-29 

Parent-teacher Orgaklzatioks : sug- 
gestions for, 33-36, 69, 99 

P.ARK Board: jurisdiction and activi- 
ties of, 49, 62, 65, 98 

Parks: areas, 60; cost of, in 191 2-13, 
62; equipment, 97, 98; ratio of 
park space to population, 60; su- 
pervision of, 62, 65 

Physical Training: supervisor ap- 
pointed, 59. See also Supervisor 

Play: activities reported by Spring- 
field boys and girls, 23-26; need 
for guidance in, 23-29; supervisor 
appointed, 59. See also Recrea- 
tion 

Play Centers, 55 

Play Festivals, 22 

Play Leaders: number in American 
cities, 97. See also Supervision 

Playgrounds: equipment, 50; school, 
43-59; streets as, 66-67; sugges- 
tions for, 97, 98, 99 



131 



INDEX 



Pool Rooms. See Billiard and Pool 
Rooms 

Population. See Springfield 

Primitive Life: boys' craving for, 
15-17 

Prize Fights: forbidden in Illinois, 
74; law evaded, 74-75 

Public Athletic League, Baltimore, 
120 

Public Schools Athletic Leagues, 
105, 112-113 



Reading Rooms, 36 

Recreation: and self-realization, 20- 
21; basis of public concern in, 5- 
22; churches and, 77-79; com- 
mittee on, 1 01, 121; community 
art and, 21-22; home, 97; lack of , 
and delinquency, 5; library as a 
resource, 68; Museum of Natural 
History as a resource, .70-72 

Recreation Centers. See Social Cen- 
ters 

Recreation Program: suggestions for 
Springfield, 97-103 

Recreation Survey in Springfield: 
a co-operative undertaking, v 

Russell Sage Foundation: Depart- 
ment of Recreation, v; Depart- 
ment of Surveys and Exhibits in 
charge of Springfield Survey, v 



"Safety First" Principle: in guard- 
ing amusements, 10 

Saloons: and billiard rooms, 10; and 
dance halls, 11,87; district contain- 
ing, 87-88; elimination of, construc- 
tive plans needed, 88; licenses of, 
87-88; social needs met by, 88 

San Francisco, Cal.: Recreation 
League, 121 

Sangamon County: topography and 
products of, 3 

School Board. 

Hon 



See Board of Educa- 



ScHooL Buildings: adaptation of, to 
social uses, 21, 32, 37-39; wider 
use of, 12, 21, 30-43, 97, 99 

School Yards: after-school use of, 
49-50; area and condition, 43-49; 
equipment of, 50, 55, 59; play in, 
26-28, 50, 55, 59; surfacing poor, 
48-49 

Schools, Springfield, 30-59 

Semi-public Institutions. See In- 
stitutions 

Social Centers, 12, 21; a protection 
to young people, 67; activities 
suggested, 39; equipment, 37-39, 
99; in American cities, 30, 97; 
in Chicago, Illinois, 30; in Mil- 
waukee, Wisconsin, 12; in New 
York City, 30; information con- 
cerning, 105; program material 
suggested, 37 

Springfield, Illinois: amusements, 
pubhc, character of, 3, 80-87; 
city life, effect of legislative and 
other large gatherings on, 4; di- 
mensions and topography, i, 3; 
general characteristics, 1-4; homes, 
23-29; industries and occupations, 
3-4; library, 68-69; opportunity 
of, as capital, to set high standards, 
55; parks, 60-65; population, 
character of, 1-3; streets, 66-67; 
wider use of school plant, plan for, 
31-43. See also Library, Parks, 
Schools, etc. 

Springfield Survey: a co-operative 
undertaking, v; fields covered by, 
v; object of, v 

Streets: as playgrounds, 66-67; fre- 
quented by boys and girls at night, 
66 

Supervision: of play activities, 26-27; 
of school playgrounds, 52; of 
social centers, 12, 32, 37 

Supervisor of Physical Training, 
Athletics, and Play: need for, in 
Springfield school system, 27-28, 
55, 98; supervisor appointed, 59 

Surveys and Exhibits, Department 
OF. See Russell Sage Foundation 



132 



INDEX 



Teachers' Association, 68 

Teachers' Training School, 96 

Theaters: number and character, 82- 
85; temptations surrounding, 83- 
84; typical entertainment at low- 
priced house, 83-84 

Track Athletics. See Athletics 

Trophies: presentation of, not desir- 
able, 100 



Wider Use of School Plant, 12, 21; 
plan for Springfield proposed, 31- 
43, 105 



Will-power: importance of fostering, 
7-8, 9-10 

Women's Club, 68, 84 



Yards: importance of, in recreation 
plans, 23, 29, 98, 99. See also 
School Yards 

Young Men's Christian Association, 
55> 75-77, 78, 97, loi 

[ Young Women's Christian Associa- 
I tion, 59, 68, 77 



133 



RUSSELL SAGE FOUNDATION PUBLICATIONS 

THE PITTSBURGH SURVEY 

Published in Six Volumes 

EDITED BY PAUL U. KELLOGG 

" The most significant piece of investigation the country has seen/'— American Magazine. 

THE PITTSBURGH DISTRICT 

[Civic Conditions] 
^3, EDWARD T. DEVINE, ROBERT A. WOODS. ALLEN T. BURNS FRANK F WTWr 
SHELBY M. HARRISON. FLORENCE LATTIMORE. LIiIaT NORm^d ^t^r^' 
Social and saiif tary experience in a score of cities focused upon one ; studies 

iJ^^tt R "%?/^ '^^"'^^fn^J^r ^,r^^""^^"^ ^"^ °f ^^^^^"t movements for 
advance. 8vo, 576 pages; 104 full-page illustrations. Postpaid, $2.70 

WAGE-EARNING PITTSBURGH 

% PAUL U. KELLOGG, JOHN R. COMMONS. FLORENCE KELLEY. PETER ROBERTS 
R. R. WRIGHT. JAMES FORBES, and others. ^'-'^^ 1 i>. 

:.r^'nU^^^^I^ tmique only in the extent to whicli industrial tendencies which 
nWnfT^- ^ everywhere have here had the opportunity to give tangible 
proof of their real character and their inevitable goal. 
8vo, 600 pages; 128 full-page illustrations. Postpaid, $2.72 

WOMEN AND THE TRADES 

'Bv ELIZABETH BEARDSLEY BUTLER 
citI^^Pa7i^^T^^ ^V^^i °^ *^^ women-employing trades in an American 
S7;v ff ff '^^ 'i r* °"^^ ^ ^'^^^ workshop: it is many workshops, and in 
many of these workshops women stand beside the men. t^ » "o m 

8vo, 440 pages; 2d ed.; 40 fuU-page illustrations. Postpaid, $1 72 

WORK-ACCIDENTS AND THE LAW ' 

■By CRYSTAL EASTMAN 
.t^hll^'V^U 7^^V*«^^^^' fi^^ hundred industrial wage-earners were killed 
^VrhlnJ '" Allegheny County, Pa. A book of broken lives as well as of 
machmes gone wrong, which has constructively influenced the workmen°s 
compensation movement throughout the United States. workmen s 

8vo. 350 pages; 38 fuU-page illustrations. Postpaid, $J 72 

HOMESTEAD: THE HOUSEHOLDS OF A MILL 

TOWN 

Sy MARGARET F. BYINGTON 
thLTrnlr?h '^r^'' ^^^'^^^f^^^^^^' J^omcn as home makers, and children in 
thetr l^owth, of what underhes the drive and clang of our industrial progress 
8vo, 3J0 pages; 41 fuU-page illustrations. Postpaid, $J.70 

THE STEEL WORKERS 

"By JOHN A. FITCH 

A study of the men who make steel by one who lived among them A 
graphic, authentic setting forth of the terms of work under The fargIS em 
ployer of labor in America today. largest cm- 

8vo, 350 pages; 39 full-pag e illustrations. Postpaid, $1.73 

PHOTOGRAPHS BY LEWIS W. HINE. DRA WINGS BY JOSEPH STELLA 

SURVEY ASSOCIATES, Inc. 

PUBLISHERS FOR THE RUSSELL SAGE FOUNDATION 
105 East 22d Street, New York 



Pamphlets Published by the Department of 
Recreation, Russell Sage Foundation 

As the prices indicate, these pamphlets are not sold for profit. The small 
charge is made for the purpose of helping to meet the cost of printing and post- 
age, thus enabling the Department to put out a larger number of publications 
than it otherwise could with its allotted funds. 

General Recreation 

No. Pricb 

Rec. 76. Exercise and Rest. Gulick. 7 pp 05 

Rec. 136. Sources of Information on Recreation. Hanmer 

and Knight. 27 pp 10 

Rec. 143. Recreation in Springfield, 111.; a section of the 
Springfield Survey. Hanmer and Perry. 142 
PP 25 

Athletics 

Rec. 140. Group Athletics for Boys. (Bulletin) 02 

Rec. 141. Group Athletics for Girls. (Bulletin) 02 

Festivals and Celebrations 

Rec. 53. May Day Celebrations. Burchenal. 14 pp 05 

Rec. 114. Celebration of the Fourth of July by Means of 

Pageantry. Langdon. 55 pp 15 

Rec. 129. Independence Day Legislation and Celebration 

Suggestions. Hanmer. 36 pp 10 

Folk Dancing 

Rec. 118. Folk Dancing. Gulick. 26 pp 05 

Wider Use of the School Plant. 

Rec. 119. Sources of Speakers and Topics for Public Lec- 
tures in School Buildings. Perry. 36 pp 05 

Rec. 125. How to Start Social Centers. Perry. 28 pp... .10 
Rec. 135. TheSocial'Centersof 1912-13. Perry. 8 pp. . . .05 
Rec. 137. The Real Snag in Social Center Extension. 

Perry. 8 pp 05 

Rec. 138. The High School as a Social Center. Perry. 22 

PP 10 

Rec. 142. The School as a Factor in Neighborhood Develop- 
ment. Perry. 8 pp 05 



